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YOP10 Week 32/52 – Litmus cowl and Craftsy classes

This week has been very light on crafting, as I have been tackling the non-craft related items in our study/craft room.

Knitting

Did I mention last week I did no calculations before starting my version of the Litmus cowl? At the moment I am continuing to knit 13 rows of colour and 8 rows of grey. I have done 13 stripes of colour and 12 of grey so I need to weigh the remaining grey yarn and come up with a plan. Maybe tiny grey stripes between the other colours or maybe no grey stripe.

In a few places it seems I have knit through the back loop by mistake, I guess it’s such mindless knitting going round and round that my brain subconsciously fancied a little detour! It is addictive so my socks have been neglected.

The wind was so cold this week I wished I had already made a pair of thrummed mittens that are on my YOP list and with the cold winds forecast this week I may do those this week.

Spinning

I watched some of the spinning and fibre preparation courses on Craftsy this week and learned a lot of things I didn’t know. I’m hoping my spinning will improve and my finished yarns will look better when knit.

Other News

Going through my husband’s old tech and random stuff he’s kept in the study wardrobe has really exhausted me this week. He had a beer making kit 3 years out of date we had to negotiate going. I know he finds it really very difficult to let anything go so I’m pleased with how he has finally let some long term electronic items go he wouldn’t 5 years ago when I last decluttered.

I found a charity who will refurbish an old laptop to give to someone who needs one and managed to get some money for an old iPad and phone. My husband has promised later today we can go through all his cables…of which there are hundreds. I bought some tape for my labelling machine so I can label plugs and I am really hoping we can get rid of 50% at least. Wish us luck!

This is a Year of Projects post. Officially the Group is in its 10th year, but this is my 3rd year participating. If you would like to find more about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry.

27 comments

  3. Ah, yes. Tech. At one point I had two computer specialists living here — as in earning a living and/or teaching comp sci. I know all about cables. And machines. And keyboards. And etc. Much resistance to rationalisation, apart from museum pieces, but the reclaimed floor and shelf space has been nothing short of miraculous. Still a lot of unused and unusable kit hanging around “just in case”, but I have high hopes.

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  5. I love the way you’re tackling decluttering with a vengeance! I think cables procreate in the night when we’re sleeping because I think just about EVERYONE has a cable problem … we always think “just in case”.

    Your scarf is lovely, this is inspiration for all the minis I have stashed that I’ve spun recently.

    I’m a newish spinner (learned in 2014 but really started spinning regularly in 2019) and the Craftsy spinninng courses on Craftsy that really helped are the Stupendous Singles from Jillian Moreno and Drafting from Worsted to Woolen from Jacey Boggs. The second one I go back to it repeatedly.

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  8. UGH! Cables are the worst to go through. Luckily, this year we did go through ALL of them. We have a place that takes all of that kind of thing along with all electronics. It does sound like your husband it getting a bit better with letting some things go. But, it is exhausting to constantly have to discuss each thing.

    The Litmus cowl is so pretty. How much further do you have to go on it? I hope you have enough gray to continue in the way you have been. Thrummed mittens………………….I had never heard of them before, even when I lived in very cold climates. It is only in the past 4 or 5 years I had heard of them.

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    • Hi Marsha, definitely not enough to continue as is…I have a 1/3rd of a skein left so I’m thinking the other half will have half sized stripes…annoying as if I’d measured I could have just done less all the way round, my fault though.

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  9. I am a saver so I can just imagine what you are going through trying to get rid of things. I have finally let go this year big time. Of all years to do it though! I adore that cowl and the shawl you made…..both are gorgeous and if you had a kit with all those yarns in it I would buy it! I love the colors you chose. Good for you learning new techniques!

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  10. I have 1 1/4 thrummed mittens in my pile of shame (project that are unfinished and not in ravelry and I just pretend they don’t exist). I really should finish them, they are really easy to construct.

    I think the varying gray stripes will look really cool! The colors are truly beautiful.

    Great job making progress on decluttering! I usually just move around my mess and call it “organizing”. Its a really bad habit.

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  12. I love your cowl!! I set up the drum carder in the craft room this week and brought in a fleece, but after looking at Hannah and thinking about how exhausting it will be dealing with the fleece and her (she licks and grooms the raw wool and I’m worried about her swallowing lots of wool) it is still sitting there waiting for me. Eventually I will be spinning…

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  13. Can so relate to the mountain of cables that fill up multiple drawers in my house. It’s always so intimidating to get rid of them since I don’t know what they go to. But I definitely need to clear out the space. I have 3 desktop computers gathering dust in the garage for multiple years that I really need to get rid of. Sadly we missed the annual computer recycle event last year due to covid so hoping it will be held this fall.

    I do love your cowl. All the pretty colors.

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  14. Good idea on labelling your plugs. My dh had us do that last year with a label maker he bought. So much easier then trying to figure out what is what behind the tv set! The occasional ktbl is a design element, not a mistake! Love the coloured stripes!

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  15. Your mention of electronic cables reminds me – in going through my bother’s things we’ve discovered SO MANY CABLES! He was into electronics and appears to have never gotten rid of a cable. Hubs has sorted and organized it all and matched many cables to devices, but still there are cables with no home. What a great idea to label cables. Putting that on my list of things to do when I have time to deal with my own stuff. Your Litmus cowl is beautiful, Liz.

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  16. Wow, look how consistent your stitches are! I can see why the Litmus is addicting. Good luck with the decluttering! My husband went through 20 years of paper in the file cabinet today (while I played with yarn, bless him). Decluttering is good for the soul.

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  18. I love the cowl. I am working on a spontaneous knit too. I love how it looks.
    Whenever I read about your husband, I think of mine…He has boxes of VHS tapes. You heard me. VHS. He has a boom box. I could go on. He recently found clothes downstairs that he previously told me to donate. I’m dying!

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      • My colleague has an older neighbor who does not have cable or other television service. He only watches VHS that he borrows from the library. I am going to give them to him. He can enjoy them then donate them to the library if he wishes. Fortunately, my husband has excellent taste in movies. We have some classics.

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  19. I never ask, I just throw. He never knows cuz he never checks again. I mean NEVER. I can’t stand clutter and he is aware he grew up with a bonafide hoarder (his mother). I think if he doesn’t have to see it being thrown out he’s OK with it.

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