The Real Sizes Sweater Project

Are you frustrated at finding really pretty sweaters only to find that the only size the sweater will correctly knit into is not the one you need? You know what I'm talking about. It's a very lovely lace sweater and you get all excited when you see the size range is XS through 6X. Wahoo! Your size is somewhere in there. You find your size, check the finished sizes, print a copy, highlight your size, test your gauge (you are a good knitter after all and this is a garment that you want to fit) and cast on. And then five inches into your knitting you start thinking how this sweater is not knitting up like you expected. You whip out your measuring tape and check to make sure you are still knitting at gauge. Then you start measuring your work. It's three inches wider (or narrower) than it should be. In a fit of tears you recheck to make sure you were really knitting the correct size. You then start doing the math and realize that there is no way whatsoever that the designers numbers can create what s/he says they should be. 144 divided by 4.5 will never equal 44. Nor will 186 divided by 5 equal 34. The mat proves it.

When I went to Stitches South I found a very lovely short sleeved pullover knit up. I bought the pattern. I bought yarn. I even bought a brand new set of needles. I tested the gauge. I selected the size. I cast on. I knit for over four hours before realizing that this sweater was so large that I could wear it with at least one other friend at the same time. Then I realized that it wasn't my knitting. It was the designer. When I started doing the math for the other sizes I realized that the only size whose numbers matched the math was the one for the medium sized. I was heartbroken. I pulled the needles out and frogged the entire thing. I haven't decided if I am going to cast it back on in a different size.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me. And I know it happens to other knitters as well. I've heard the frustrated tales of woe at my Monday night Stitch n Bitch. Some people don't even quit at the five inch mark. They keep trusting the pattern and make the entire thing only to be frustrated with it and having to frog an entire garment. So after ranting about it and fussing about it for an entire night I decided to quit bitching and do something about it.

So this is where I need your help. I want to start a project that explores real people's sizes. Not just bust/chest and waist, but all your measurements. Starting tomorrow I am going to collect people's sizes. I'll have a survey for you to fill out and your measurements will be sent to me. This gives you time to find your measuring tapes. Tell your friends. Tweet the link to here. Put it on Facebook. Spread the word on Ravelry and at your local knit shop and knit nights. I want as large of a sampling of sizes as I can get. I'll keep everyone posted as I go along with what I discover.

Ten on Tuesday: The Library

I couldn't pass this list up this week. It's the former librarian in me that called me out of my knitting cave to respond. I've worked in libraries since I was in middle school (age 11 - about the same time I learned to knit). My grandmother was a cafeteria lady at my middle school and I caught a ride with her each morning to school. Of course she had to be there at seven in the morning and school didn't start until eight thirty. I needed something to do, so my grandmother talked the librarian into letting me be an assistant rather than just hang around and be bored. At first I just shelved books, but after a few weeks the librarian realized that I was good for other things and quickly learned how to process new books, repair broken books, fix torn pages, create displays, and do various printing, laminating and binding jobs for teachers. I became their pet and learned to love the library. When I got to high school I learned that I could volunteer in the library rather than do study hall and quickly found my place back among the stacks.

In college my work study program was also in the library, thanks to my eight years of library experience through grade school. I was in heaven! And, once again, the staff found I was good for more than checking out books and so I was given a task of doing library inventory (which I barely made a dent in before changing schools, but it was fun nonetheless). At the university I got a job in the serials department and learned not just about journals and magazine binding, but also about how government documents were cataloged and shelved. That lead me to my First Real Job. Acquisitions. I got to handle each new book as it came in. I was the first in the library to touch them, feel them, smell them, and write in them. Yes; I was the one who wrote the Secret Library Code inside the books. I stamped the books with the library's name. I sent the books to be processed. I also got to handle donated books from people's estates and I also was the one who collected books that were being deleted from the shelves. Which meant I was the first ones to get my hands on withdrawn materials. Ah, it was heaven.

After I got married I moved to Oregon and got a job in cataloging and catalog transfer. It was this Big New Thing where libraries were transferring their paper card catalogs over to computer databases. And I was right there in the forefront of that excitement. We were never without work because it was the newest greatest thing. Our company was developing software and I had an input. It was fantastic and thrilling to see libraries shove everyone into the computer age. There was speculation that One Day people could sit at home with their computer and actually search for and check out books without even having to go to the library. But that would be years and years away.

When I became a Mommy, I realized that as much as I lived library work, I loved mommy work even more and so for the first time since I was a very young child I became a patron rather than a librarian. I still love the library. I ache when I hear that funding has been cut and that the public library has no acquisition funding for new books. I pay my overdue fees promptly (which was a new thing for me since when one works at a library one always has access to returning books). I'm careful with my books. And I make donations to the library when they are missing a book in a series I'm reading.

So here is my list of ten reasons why you should use your public library:

1. Free books. Can I make it any clearer? Free reading.
2. Books that were fun, but maybe not fantastic, won't clog up your limited bookshelf space.
3. You can read magazines and newspapers from all over the world. Yes; I know you can do that at home on your computer, but there is something wonderful about actually holding a newspaper.
4. Increased patronage shows the governing bodies that there is a need for the library. This means that funding is needed and keeps the libraries open.
5. Most libraries have an Inter-Library Loan department and can get you almost any book from any library in your country.
6. You can try out a book before you purchase it. This is especially true with craft, cooking and new fiction series.
7. Most libraries have Internet services that people can use if they don't have home computers.
8. Your library may even have a reading group that you can join to expand your reading interests.
9. I read an article that children are reading less these days. I blame parents for not taking their children to the library and not reading themselves. So get your kids to the library and let them read!
10. Libraries are great places to sit undisturbed for a period of time while you knit on a project or read a book, or simply watch people pass by. My library even has a walking path that is great for meditation as you wind your way around the building.

I know I am biased, but of all the places I love to go in the world it has to be the library.

Catching up!

First a report on Project 333. I think that Project 333 worked well for me until the seasons changed. We only have two really distinct seasons where I live and our cooler season runs from mid-late October to mid-late February. Our warmer season runs the rest of the year. In those two seasons we have some very cold days and some not quite so hot days. By February 20th I was having to dig out warm weather clothes and on March 10th I had to just relent that I wasn't going to make it another 3 weeks with the clothes that were in my closet, so most of my winter clothes have been boxed.

I've decided not to do Project 333 for the spring and summer, mostly because we have such a long time when we wear warm weather clothes. To stretch 33 garments out over 190 days or to have two "sets" of Project 333 clothes (a spring and a summer set) just doesn't make sense for me. However, I have learned a lot from Project 333 and how to approach my wardrobe. Currently I have 37 pieces (including shoes) in my closet to consider each day. However, this year's spring/summer wardrobe is much different from last year's. Things go together and when I go out shopping for new pieces, I truly keep in mind what I have in my closet and how things fit in there. My closet is much more versatile and with this losing weight venture I know it is going to change a bit. Fortunately, I wear more elastic waisted skirts and drawstring pants in the summer, so other than a new pair of jeans in a couple weeks I shouldn't need to buy too much to keep my wardrobe working.

I'm truly glad I did Project 333 this winter and may do it again this year, but starting in October through February and perhaps do a Project 355 (thirty-five pieces of clothes over five months). We'll see. For now I have a fairly well assembled closet that has quite a few pieces that mix and match easily giving me an appearance of a larger wardrobe than what is there.

In the world of writing, I've been doing mostly editing and revising lately. I took advantage of Create Space's NaNoWriMo offer and have a "proof copy" of my book. It's so pretty with it's cover and book title and author name all looking like a real book. I'm enjoying reading it in this format and finding things that need fixing. I may do this more in the future. I do have the next two books in my romantic knitting series mapped out. Now to find the time to sit and actually write them.

As I eluded to earlier I am working on shedding some unwanted pounds. I've lost right at twelve pounds so far, but it's my body shape that is the most odd. I've lost quite a few inches in my hips and bust and a bit in my arms and legs. However, my waist is still the same size it was when I started. It's very irritating because my pants are falling off everywhere except my waist. They sag and pucker and droop, but I can't get a different size because of my stupid waist. I know it will eventually come off but in the meantime it is a bit aggravating to wear any of my jeans.

And the only thing that I can say about knitting is that it is Sock Madness and I made it through round one! Hopefully round two's pattern will be released on Monday and I can begin knitting like a demon again.

Project 333 half way through

I thought I would do a quick review of how Project 333 is going for me. What I have found is that I have yet to wear the black skirt or the black shoes. I also only wore the black jacket once. One shirt got exchanged out and somehow I have misplaced my art shirt. (I'm quite distressed about this.) Another issue I have started to have is that I joined Weight Watchers and I have already lost 3" in my hips and 3" in my bust. It feels great, but remember those fantastic brown pants that I searched high and low for? Yeah, those? They are getting a bit baggy already. They aren't quite to the "these are uncomfortable" but it won't be long before they are. I already find myself hitching them up a few times a day.

It's February. That means winter. Yeah, except that yesterday it was 71°F and sunny. No sweaters, no multiple layers, no jackets. I'm not quite ready to give up on my winter 333, but I may have to exchange some of the longer sleeves out in the next week. I'm trying to stretch it to March 15th. We'll see. That's just three more weeks. I've already started thinking about my Project 333 spring wardrobe, though, and how I want to reorganize the clothes I had from last spring. Some things will definitely stay such as some skirts, tennis shoes, and my two summer cardigans (one cotton and one silk). I think I have also found the perfect shoes that are almost like espadrilles. What do you think?

So 333 is working well. I may have to change it to more like 332 during the fall and winter months and 334 or 335 for spring and summer. Silly weather. It thinks it is spring and didn't consult my wardrobe first.

Thoughts on Minimalism

I'm a minimalist at heart. I like things clean and neat. The things that I do have I like to be compartmentalized and orderly. I live with four other people who don't have these goals. I don't collect knick knacks. I truly have no use for them in my life. I think it comes from growing up in a house filled with knick knacks and expensive figurines (Hummels, LLadros and silk Japanese dolls) and being the one who had to dust them all the time. Every week without fail, each item had to be taken off the shelves. They had to be dusted. The shelves had to be dusted and polished. The figurines had to be put back on the shelves in the right place and angle. So I don't care too much for things that just sit there collecting dust. I'm an adult now. I can choose to dust or not. I choose not to very often.

While I have a lovely stash of yarn, I can't say that it is as large as other knitters. In fact I try not to purchase yarns just because they are on sale or because they are pretty. I have enough pretty sale yarn that I've yet to knit. As I said yesterday I have enough yarn that I can knit for several years without fear of running out, but I would eventually run out before I die. Actually long before I die. I don't, however, have a large stash of needles. I have Knit Picks' interchangeable set all in metal and with a few of the wood needles as well. I have a good collection of DPN's for sock, hat and mitten making. I have yet, though, found a need to purchase other needles just because they are "very cool" or "exotic." I don't need very cool or exotic needles. I just need solid dependable functional ones.

My kitchen is the same. I really don't have every gadget under the sun. Why? Many tools are multifunctional. For some reason I have a citrus press. I use quite a bit of citrus (I mean, come on, I live in the Sunshine State so citrus is fairly inexpensive). However, I mostly end up not using the citrus press. I just roll the lemon or orange around for a bit and then slice it in half and squeeze the juice out with my hand. Sure some seeds get in, but they are easily removed and I usually already have a cutting board and knife out so there is less work to do afterwards. I also got a new stove (remember the new stove that's flat top and shiny cobalt blue on the inside?) When I emptied out the old stove drawer I put all the things that were down there in a box. I've only removed three things from that box. I'm wondering why I have the rest of the items. In fact I think there are several lids to pots I no longer own.

I think the reason that I am drawn to Project 333 is not because my wardrobe is out of control, but for other reasons. In fact I had to purchase a few items to get to 33. Yes; I did box up quite a few things, but they are all things that have just been living in my closet for the past decade not being worn. I think that donating them when the weather warms will be much easier seeing as I have proven that I don't need them. What attracts me to this project is that I have some control over my wardrobe. I dress intentionally each day. I've created a wardrobe that lends itself to mixing and matching. I do believe that I can wear any two or three tops together without looking aesthetically offensive. It will also keep me from purchasing things just because I found them on the Beal's 70% off rack and it happened to fit with no regard as to whether it matches anything except my jeans.

I think that while I strive for minimalism in my life in some areas, there are other areas that will always be somewhat overfull. Books come to mind. I have shelves and shelves of books and boxes and boxes that don't fit on the shelves. I love my books. They are an indulgence. I also refuse to have minimalism in cuisine. I don't want to ever eat simply. I love flavour and colour and texture and aroma in my kitchen. I love filling my kitchen with beautiful and delicious food. I will never be able to eat simply to live. It's why I failed so badly at Weight Watchers. I would get into a rut with food and become bored and there were places where I just won't compromise when it comes to food. I will not give up real butter or homemade bread or honey.

Perhaps I am only a quasi-minimalist. I'm good with that. I like the things I like and limit the things I don't. I like finding new ways of simplifying my life, but at the same time I will always have boundaries of what is too stark and too missing in my life. One has to be happy with their level of minimalism and that is what is important. I believe in a reduction in consumption, but hold strongly that you should embrace the things you love. I will continue to embrace even while I reduce.

Ten on Tuesday

Ten things I can't live without? As a striving minimalist one would think that this would be a fairly easy list to make. I'm not attached to too many things. And since people don't count as things, I had to really think hard about what I can't live without.

1. My stash which I could probably knit on for several years.
2. My Knit Picks needle set otherwise the stash is sort of moot.
3. Ibuprofen - greatest thing ever invented and if the world were going into an apocalyptic situation I would run to the store and stock up on as much of this as I could.
4. The electric tea kettle. I can do quite a bit with boiling water (in the event of the aforementioned apocalypse I would change this to my regular tea kettle that I can use on a fire or grill)
5. Paper and pen. Maybe that counts as two. I could live without my computer, but I need a way to write and I still know how to do this the old fashioned way.
6. Someway to bring music in my life. Whether it is an iPod or CD Player or even a musical instrument. I need music.
7. A good kitchen knife
8. M&M's - after the Ibuprofen I would load up on M&M's
9. Tea - it's third on the apocalyptic shopping list
10. Niji Saru. That's the sweet little meditative monkey at the top of this list. She's travelled the world and there are times when I just sit and hold her knowing all the arms that have hugged her in the past and all the places she has seen. She tells me periodically she wants to write her own book about her travels. She has a fantastic journal filled with her adventures from around the world. I'm glad she is home and sharing her stories with me.

Starting Off

It's a new year. 2011. According to my daughter we have less than two years before the world explodes and the Mayan calendar proves true. Well, in that case I think we should live it up and go reckless. The logical side of my brain says that's not such a good idea and we should be a bit more practical. Of course it is my theory that the Mayan calendar ended on the Winter Solstice in the year 2012 because the person making the calendar got tired and decided to quit and besides, no one he knew was going to be living then anyway.

Many people make New Year Resolutions this time of year. You know like, "I'm going to lose thirty pounds, get my book published and post on my blog every day." Yeah, so as you can see if those were my goals I've already failed seeing as it is the third and I am just now getting around to posting for the first time this year. That's why I don't make New Year Resolutions. I do have goals. For instance I want to knit mostly from my stash. That's a good and attainable goal. And I want to make Mr. KCW that fisherman's sweater he's been asking for over the years. I want to finish organizing my kitchen and pare down the duplicity and unused items (like the twenty year old Kenmore mixer that doesn't work). I want to spend more time writing and less time fretting about writing.

I did begin Project 333 Saturday. I'll post weekly pictures rather than daily ones. It's nice to look in my closet and see everything hanging neatly. Although this morning I hung up the clothes I had washed last night and had a panic attack because I had an extra hanger and couldn't figure out what was missing. I then realized that I hadn't washed whites yet this week and so my white and silver striped shirt was not in the closet. I was about to blame Mr. KCW for putting extra hangers in my closet just to mess with me. (He'd do that, too if he thought of it.)

My current knitting endeavour is to finish my Triangle Lace Shawl (Ravelry Link). I've got six more daisy repeats to do and then the border lace. I'm using variegated yellow and gold beads and it is looking very pretty. All the other knitters who have made this shawl have expressed that it has blocked bigger than they would have thought. I hope so because I'm wanting a larger shawl. I'm planning how I want to incorporate this shawl into my spring Project 333 wardrobe. I'm thinking it will pair well with blues and tangerines, which is good because that's what I have a lot of in my summery wardrobe.

My current cooking endeavour is learning what Mr. KCW can eat and what with his new insulin pump. It's sort of putting a cramp on our regular meals which are generally rice or pasta based meals. Coming up with new meals that work with his needs has been challenging and we've had tried very interesting recipes that won't be revisited. We all seem to like the mustard encrusted steak (except for the vegetarian in the family).

And my current writing endeavour is revisiting a book that I lost and wanted to rewrite. It's actually coming along nicely. When I finish this project I am going to edit my NaNoWriMo novel from this year. And I'm reading about a billion books all at once. Room by Emma Donoghue is what entertained me for two hours last night when I couldn't sleep. I'm also reading Jane Eyre (I don't remember that book being 1600 pages), Portal by Imogen Rose and Interred with their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell. This is why it takes me forever to "read a book" because I keep switching from one book to another. I'd change this, but I've done this since I was a young child and somehow I've managed to keep all the plots organized. Apparently that is how I write as well.

So Happy New Year and may this be a good year for all of us. Keep up the writing, knitting and cooking. I know I am.