Ravelympics: Results, part 2

I still haven't had a chance to finish uploading pictures of all my FOs, or download my awards, but I'll get to it slowly. Here's a picture of the tank top I finished last week. I wore it last weekend and felt really proud of myself! I still wish it was an inch or two longer, but it's quite comfortable. I haven't washed it yet, need to do that soon so I can wear it again!

I also have quite a bit of blocking left to do. First up is my sister's headscarf, so I can give it to her this weekend if possible. I looked for T-pins at Michael's the other day, but they didn't have them (or 16" 10.5 circulars, either. Grrr....)

I calculated my total yardage for the Games. For non-WIPs (that is, projects I started and finished during the Games) I knit 403 yards. My WIPs, excluding the felted bear, came to 961 yards, but much of that was knit before August. When I get a chance I want to estimate how much I've knit this year (and compare it to how much I've bought this year!)

Ravelympics: Results

I finished all my projects! I finished the last one, the Marigold Bear, Friday morning. Whew! I didn't think I was going to be able to do it all, especially the Bear, but here I am with 12 FOs under my belt!

What I knit:

• 4 cotton washcloths (gifts)
  
• 2 pairs of socks (for E and L)

What I finished:

• Dog walking mitt
• head scarf for my sister
• hot water bottle cozy
• wrist warmers
• tank top for me
• felted Bear (started 1996!)
  

I've got medals to download and save, pictures to upload and share, and a heap of knitting to wash and block. But now it's definitely time to take a break and tackle that pile of laundry!

Ravelympics: Day 7, part 3

I finished my second WIP and 5th project total. Woot! This is a hot water bottle cozy in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted...yum! I finished knitting the neck ribbing and whip-stitched the bottom closed. I was a little nervous about how I was going to sew the bottom, but whip-stitch seemed to work well, with a bunch of safety pins guiding the way.

I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this or give it as a gift for Christmas. Or make a second one.

Ravelympics: Day 7, part 2

I finally finished my Irish Hiking Wrist Warmers this afternoon. I started them in April!!! This is my first FO for the WIPs Wrestling event. I had some problems with the mattress stitch on the second one, but after redoing it several times, I finally got it. The seaming is off by a couple of rows by the end, but I think it looks fine and I'm calling it finished. I also had to redo the first one because I made the thumb hole too small. Bring on the cold weather!

Ravelympics: Day 7

Yeah! I finished the second sock this afternoon. They look great, and I think they'll be perfect for L this fall.

I'm not sure what I'm going to work on next. Probably my wrist warmers, since all I need to do with those is mattress stitch the seam in one and redo the seam in the other (I didn't leave a large enough space for my thumb).

Ravelympics: Day 6

Started and almost finished the second cabled sock yesterday, but it got late and I didn't want to make mistakes. Should be a relatively easy finish today. And I'm hoping to knock off at least one WIP today.

I discovered a few days ago that I am missing a ball of yarn! I had a WIP (the dog walking mitt) on the bookshelf next to the bed; I had last worked on it less than 2 weeks before the start of the Games. I went to work on it a couple of days ago while G was reading to E in bed, and the big ball of yarn that used to be attached is no longer there! I've done a quick scan of the bedroom, but can't find it anywhere. It wasn't cut, and it doesn't looked chewed, although the cats are prime suspects. What's weird is that the needles are still in the project, the cable needle and row counter are still there, just the yarn is gone (which is why I don't suspect E, who would have taken the counter first). As this is one of the WIPs I'm hoping to finish in the next week, I've got some serious hunting to do today.

Ravelympics: Day 5

My second FO of the Games! This is a washcloth in the Flickering Flames pattern by Maile Mauch, in Lily Sugar'n Cream cotton. I made a mistake and bound off (and sewed in my ends!) before realizing that I forgot to do a final garter stitch border at the top. It still looks okay, but it curls a little bit. I might try to undo it and add the border, but it's a low priority right now. I also found a few mistakes in the pattern, but nothing major.

I now have 6 WIPs to finish and 4 new projects to do (3 1/2, since I finished one of the socks already). That means I need to finish a project a day for the remainder of the Games! Yikes!
(edited to add awards!)

Ravelympics: Day 4

Finished my first toddler sock this afternoon. It was supposed to be for E, but I tried to get it on his foot part way through and there's no way it's going to fit. So this pair will be for L, and I'll make a larger pair for E. The pattern is Cabled Toddler Socks by Rosemary Waits.

Finished one shoulder of my Lacey Vee Shell last night, and hope to finish the second one tonight. Then all I'll need to do is the neck! Woohoo!

Ravelympics: Day 2

Didn't do too much knitting today, as I was up late the night before watching the Opening Ceremonies. Worked on my Lacey Vee Shell, up to the point where I am supposed to divide for the left and right shoulders. I stopped there, since I really don't want to mess this up, and I already need to figure out how to decide which are the center 31 stitches and why I have a couple more stitches on one side than on the other. I thought about starting my socks for E, but instead just dug out the needles and wound the yarn into a ball.

Saturday afternoon I also broke my car. I was pulling out of the garage, and somehow neglected to close the back door. Now it won't close at all! I can't believe I did that, I feel *so* stupid! Luckily no one was hurt (L was in the car with me), and G isn't mad at me. I now need to find a body shop, and figure out what we're going to do for driving until my car is fixed.

Free Tibet!

None of us are free
until ALL of us are free

China's record on human rights is dismal, and their stance on Tibet is deplorable, to put it nicely.

None of us are free
until ALL of us are free

Please visit the International Campaign for Tibet website for more information.

None of us are free
until ALL of us are free

(thanks to PoMo Golightly and Pippi for raising awareness!)

Ravelympics: Day 1

Okay, it's not the end of the day yet, but I can't help wanting to blog! The Ravelympics 2008 officially started at 5am PDT, and I was up and knitting by 6. I am working on Washcloth #3, which uses the Tiny Cables Washcloth pattern by Nanette Blanchard, in a bright blue Sugar'n Cream cotton. This project qualifies for several events: Home Stuff Hammer Throw, Gift Knits Pentathalon, and the Cable Steeplechase. The pattern is pretty and very easy to memorize, and probably looks a little more complicated than it really is. The yarn, however, is very hard on my hands. I've found I can't really knit for more than 30-40 minutes at a time, which is probably just as well, as I've got other stuff to do. The last time I knit washcloths was over a year ago, and I don't remember it being this bad. I was pregnant at the time, though, so maybe being uncomfortable all over made my hands hurting seem negligible.

I hope to finish the washcloth today, let's see what I can do!

*********************************************************

3pm: I did it! One FO for Team Resolutions 2008! Finished at just before 3pm, knit in 4 sessions of about 30-40 minutes each. I even wove in the ends!

8:55pm: edited to add my awards! Woot!

Ravelympics!

I have joined Team Resolutions 2008 and entered a whopping TWELVE projects into the Games. Six of them are WIPs, 4 of them are washcloths, and 2 of them are socks (a pair each for E and L). Some of the WIPs I should be able to finish in a day or two. Some of them (like my Lacey Vee Shell) are going to take several days or more. I don't think there is a good chance I will complete half of what I am setting out to do, but it's fun to have a challenge and see how much knitting I can do in 17 days.

I can officially cast on Friday at 5am. I have a lot of training to do before then, including printing patterns, picking out yarn, finding needles, and getting it all organized into my Ravelympics Box.

mistakes

I made a mistake on my tank top several rows back, so now I need to frog it. Normally I would just undo the incorrect stitches, but in this case I've got yarn-overs in the wrong places, so I don't think that will work. I am bummed. I had put this project away for a week because I needed some quiet time to work on the front (lots of shaping). I finally had some time on Monday, before L's PT appointment, and I think that's where I made the mistake. There or at my knitting group that evening. That makes more sense, actually, because I wasn't paying as close attention, since we had a swap that night and two new members sitting right next to me.

The mistake is a silly one, and one I should have caught almost immediately. Which is why I think it happened during the knitting group. The shaping is fine, but the placement of the design in the front is off by 3 stitches, and is very noticeable.

Bah. I hate mistakes.

successful swap

My knitting group had a swap this evening. I brought in a box of yarn, and got rid of most of it. I took back a few things, mostly wool that I might use for felting. I tried hard not to take too much. I picked up some black Knit Picks Swish DK, Lion Brand Microspun in white and yellow, a skein of Sugar'n Cream stripes in blue, and a partial skein of pink-purple Rowan Tweed for the Elinor Tunic I'm hoping to knit. And a Minnowknits book. I left with less than I came with, which was my goal.

no knitting, incoming stash

I've hardly done any knitting this week, and it's been frustrating. Knit lots on Monday, but got to a section of my tank top where I really need to concentrate (i.e. no kids, not in the car, not when I'm sleepy, etc.), so it was on hold until the end of the week, except I didn't work on it at the end of the week, so now it's on hold again.

In my search for a project I can pick up easily, I thought I'd make a tank top out of some Caron Cotton Terry I have from my grandmother. I've never knit with the stuff, but it seemed like maybe it might make a decent top; nothing fancy, but good for the summer. First, I spent part of a day looking at patterns, finally found one I liked. Oh, but I didn't have the right length circular needle. Went to Michael's Thursday night; they didn't have it. Went to JoAnn's Friday, and they didn't have it either. Finally went to my LYS Friday afternoon, where I discovered they are having a 20% off everything sale this month. Wheeee!!! (And they had my needle!) Bought some needles, and a few skeins of yarn for good measure. Went home, reviewed my queue in Ravelry, and went back and bought 2 bags of yarn. Yum! One bag was full of Encore, for L's log cabin blanket. The rest is a mix of yarn for specific projects and yarn that just looked fun. In retrospect I realized I got back in my old habit of just buying one or two skeins of yarn because they look neat, when that's probably not going to be enough to do much with. We'll see what happens with it. Among my finds are some Crystal Palace Merino 5 (I bought 2 skeins in the first visit, then another 2 skeins in the second so I'd have more to play with), Noro Kureyon (bought 4 total, in 2 passes; might start Lizard Ridge with them), and Crystal Palace Panda Wool (one skein in 2 different colors, so not for socks).

So what became of my new tank top? I cast on last night, and hated the yarn. I absolutely couldn't knit with it. My cast on was uneven, and I could tell after a single knit stitch that this was going to be a painful project. The yarn is nubby, but they are small, hard nubs, that make it difficult to pull one loop through another. I immediately posted all of the yarn (9 skeins total in several colors) on YarnCycle, and I hope to get it in the mail next week.

Now it's been nearly an entire week with no knitting, but I've been wanting to knit. Finally tonight I cast on for a dog walking mitten for my dad's gf for Christmas. It's not using up stash (I bought the yarn for it yesterday), but it sure feels good to be knitting again.

mindless to mindful

I've been working diligently on my Lacey Vee tank top for a couple of weeks now. Until a few days ago it was pretty mindless knitting: knit in stockinette until you've done 9". Then I got to start a bit of a pattern (ooh, a little purling to do!) Last night I started knitting the back separate from the front, and very suddenly my simple little tank got complicated. I spent some time this morning re-writing the pattern for the back (at least, up to the neckline, where I have to split again for the shoulders) because it started getting too confusing last night. The confusion occurs because I am doing armhole shaping at the same time as armhole edging, and the pattern doesn't give row by row instructions, just how many decreases to do.

While I'm looking forward to getting into some complicated knitting, I think I may need to start another project for some more mindless activity.

June yardage

I've decided to start calculating how much yarn I knit each month. I might go back and calculate for previous months, but for now I'll start with June. A problem I foresee is that because I tend to get almost through a project, then let it rest for a few months, my monthly calculations will be off. I will only calculate yardage for Finished Objects, so even if I did most of the knitting in May, the yardage will count only in the month when I finished the piece.

Yardage for June is...76 yards! Not much, eh? This is from the Nottingham hat I knit for E, although I did quite a bit of knitting on my tank top (probably another 200 yards for that), but I hope to count that next month.

I wonder how many miles I knit in a year. Hmm...better start doing some calculations....

Frog Pond

Welcome to the Frog Pond, unfinished sweater! I started you nearly 10 years ago, after knitting the sampler from Jacqueline Fee's The Sweater Workshop. Why didn't I realize then that the trim color did not go with the main color? Or that I would probably look like a large grape when I was finished?

No matter. I decided to rip you out months ago, but it wasn't until tonight that I finally had the courage, and time, to do it.

Rip! Rip! Rip!

In less than half an hour a foot of sweater is gone. I've weighed the resulting hanks and set them aside for another day, when I'll wash them and hang them to dry to unkink them.

RIP, ugly unfinished sweater!

What Would You Make?

I've started a new group on Ravelry called "WWYM?" (What Would You Make?) The idea is to look at other people's stashes and help them come up with projects they could make with it. I initially had the idea because I've been looking at my stash a lot recently, in an attempt to use some of it up, and was just getting stuck on most of it. For instance, I've got a lot of single and double skeins of yarn, and I want to use it, but don't know for what. I thought maybe if someone else looked at it, they would have some ideas that I wouldn't have thought of myself. And I figured there'd be at least a few others on Ravelry with the same problem, or who would at least indulge me and come up with ideas for my stash.

I missed my knitting group

After nearly 2 months, I finally made it to my Monday night knitting group this week. I was so happy! Since April it seemed something came up each week; birthdays, house guests, illnesses, bad traffic, business trips, and so on. It was great to get out of the house, talk to other adults, and get some knitting done.

Let's see, what have I been working on. I knit a Nottingham hat for E out of some very old blue Brown Sheep worsted. It came out ok, but the yarn doesn't really show off the cables very well. And I'm worried it's a bit feminine for a 3 year old (but I won't deal with that until the fall when he starts wearing it). I really should have used this opportunity to learn to do cables without a cable needle, because there were a lot of little cables in this hat. I love the pattern, though, and plan to make another one.

I also started a tank top for myself, the Lacey Vee Shell by Deb Gemmell, in off-white Cabin Fever Cotton Tweed. It's knit in the round from the bottom up, which I like because it means no seams to sew! It also means a lot of stitches to cast on, and unfortunately I wasn't paying attention when I started, and cast on to the wrong needle size! I did my swatch on size 5 needles (correctly), but was supposed to start the ribbing on size 3. I spent the entire Monday evening out casting on and knitting the first row (which always takes me forever) with size 5 needles, only to discover yesterday that I would have to redo it all.

UFOs

That is, UFOs that really should be FOs. I have 3, and all are small, almost finished, and hanging out in my knitting bag.

• Irish hiking wrist warmers. I need to sew up the seams and wear them.
• hot water bottle cover. I need to do a bit more knitting at the end, then sew up the seams
• my sister's headscarf. I need to crochet some ties, block, and give it to her.

I see a theme here. Apparently I hate finishing. Which is too bad, because if I had finished the wrist warmers a few weeks ago, like I could have, I could have been wearing them this entire time while we are experiencing unusually cool weather. And I could have given my sister her headscarf as a get well gift. And used the hot water bottle cover. And so on.

My personal goal is to finish all 3 projects by the end of the month. Doesn't sound like such a big deal, but some of them have been almost finished for several months.

little projects

I knit a super quick project for E recently: fruit cuffs. These are just 2x2 ribbed tubes, about 3" long, knit in kitchen cotton. They are for him to wear when he eats messy fruit, like watermelon. My hope is that all the juice that would normally run down his arms onto his shirt will get on the fruit cuffs, which I can then throw in the wash. So far he likes wearing them, but he's also been extraordinarily careful when it comes to eating fruit lately, too.

I just have one active project on the needles right now, a hat for either E or L. The pattern is Nottingham, by Melissa Mall, and I'm using an old skein of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted that I got from my grandmother's stash (not am I only busting my own stash, but my grandmother's, too!) I am knitting the smallest size; E's head measured 19", and the pattern says it's a stretchy hat. But if it's too small for him, L can wear it. The pattern is easy but tedious. Lots (and lots and lots) of tiny cables, and I haven't figured out how to do them without a cable needle. Fie on me for sure! I am halfway through the cable pattern, though, so it's doable with a cable needle, just, well, tedious.

L's birthday crown

I finished L's birthday crown last weekend and managed to snap a quick picture. She hates wearing hats, so getting any photo was definitely a challenge!
The crown came out a little bit too short after felting, so I stretched it while it was drying. My original plan was to use velcro to fasten the ends together. I wound up using two pieces of 1/2" elastic instead, although I sewed them on so that the crown is now a bit too big for her! It fits E quite nicely, though, so maybe he can use it for his birthday, too. (Although he says he wants a blue one.)

FO (almost!)

I finished knitting L's birthday crown last night; I am felting it as I type this morning. The pattern is the Felted Halloween Crown from Lion Brand. It was super easy, since it was completely in garter stitch and only required a single increase or decrease per row. I made the smallest size, which I'm hoping will fit L for her first birthday in a couple of weeks. I'm being a bit risky in the felting; I just threw it in with a pair of jeans, and set the washer for a quick, hot wash. I have a front loader, so pulling it out to check in the felting progress isn't an option.

Birthday gift from Avlynn

My best friend Eva (aka Avlynn) made me a circular needle organizer for my birthday! How cool is that! She and her husband and two kids came over for a little party today. I added some of my needles to the organizer after they left. I still have quite a few more needles; these were just the ones that weren't already in a decent package. I'll probably add them in as I use them, or when I get the organizing itch.

Thanks Avlynn!!!

Emergency!

No, not really. But the 72 Hours website is definitely worth taking a look at!

a sweater for L

I finished a sweater for L late last week, just in time for a chilly weekend in Napa. This is the first sweater I've knit for her. I love the yarn, which is a soft superwash merino wool from Tess' Designer Yarns. The pattern that I bought along with the yarn, though, was terrible, and I wound up ripping it out and starting again with a different pattern. The pattern is called Daisy Cardigan, by Marie Grace. It is knit from the top down all in one piece, which meant that when I was finished knitting, I didn't have to sew any seams. Instead of buttons it has a single tie at the top (which meant I didn't have to look for matching buttons, either!) I modified the pattern slightly by knitting a garter stitch border at the bottom and doing a regular cast off, instead of the picot edge (I did the picot cast off for the sleeves. If I knit it again I might do the garter stitch for the sleeves, too, to keep them from rolling.)

The sweater is a bit big for L, but not so big that she can't wear it now. I am hoping it will still fit her in the fall, when I plan to knit a matching hat with the remaining yarn.

sick

Bleah. I've been sick for 3 weeks now, and I'm tired of it. I did get a few days of relative healthiness over Easter, which was nice because we visited family. But a few days later I was sick again. And now DH is sick, too. At least the kids seem pretty healthy; I sent them both off to daycare for most of the week so I could get some rest.

This means, unfortunately, I've done very little knitting for the past 3 weeks. I ripped out L's cardigan after deciding the pattern had too many errors. If I had more experience with cardigans I probably could have figured it out myself, but since this is my first one, I thought better to rip and start again with a new pattern. Which I did! I'm knitting the Daisy Cardigan from Marie Grace, and so far I like it a lot. It is knit in the round (well, back and forth in one piece) from the top down, so it's a pattern type I'm familiar with. I've got the sleeves finished, so I just have another 4-6" to go on the body, knit the ties (instead of buttons), and I'm finished! I'm hoping it will still be cool enough for L to wear this spring, and big enough for her to wear in the fall.

Stitches!

I'm going! Today! Wheeeee!

I have a short wish list, which includes buttons for L's cardigan, yarn for the IK Celtic Tote, sock blockers, and a very belated birthday gift for my sister. The gift is the only thing I really need to get, since her birthday was a month ago and I intentionally left it to now to get her something.

I also have a short packing list, which includes Ravelry button, sweater sleeve (to match buttons), and Tylenol.

Time to go shower and eat a hearty breakfast!

yarn barf

Even though February is for Finishing, instead of finishing the 3 WIPs/UFOs I have, I am starting 2 new ones. D'oh! We are going away for the weekend, and I can't bring 2 of the WIPs because they might be gifts for people we will see, and the third WIP is just too hard to work on away from home. So I've started a simple shrug (from One Skein Wonders) using a partial skein of Knitaly and a pair of Irish Hiking wrist warmers using an almost complete skein of Cascade superwash. Hurray for destashing!

I hope I have enough yarn for both projects, but I'm thrilled to be using up some old yarn. The Knitaly was a gift from my husband's then-girlfriend, about 12 years ago. She gave me 2 skeins, some of which I used to make a cabled hat and mitten set (that I gave to someone maybe? I've no idea what became of it.) The Cascade is leftover from E's strawberry cap.

In preparation for knitting away from home I thought I'd wind the Cascade into a ball, since it is currently in a mushroom (I think that's what the young'uns are calling it). In my search for the center of the skein I got a yarn barf, caused by several separate knots and wool stickiness. 30 minutes later I was still cleaning up yarn barf. I know the mushrooms look fancier than the traditional log skeins, but I really dislike them. In retrospect I should have wound it into 2 balls, since I'm making wrist warmers, but I'll just trust that I'll have enough for two.

As for finishing, I am almost finished knitting the hot water bottle cover, and about 70% finished with the afghan. Don't ask about the felted bear, I feel that project is doomed to languish in the UFO box forever, poor thing.

count down to Stitches

Less than 2 weeks to go! Avlynn and I are going to go together, probably on Saturday. I am looking forward to seeing the Ravelry booth and (hopefully) meeting Casey and Jess. And playing the Ravelry passport game, if there are any passports left.

There's nothing in particular that I want to buy this year, except maybe some patterns to use up the yarn I've already got. I need to print out a list of my stash and my needle collection, and probably my book collection, too, so I don't buy duplicates.

curtains

No, I didn't knit them. I didn't even sew them, really. I bought some curtains for E's room from Ikea last year, but they're really long. Super long. Like 10 feet long. They came with some iron-on fusible stuff, but I never used it, then lost it. So the curtains have been up for over a year, much too long for the window. Hemming them has been on my to-do list this whole time, so this afternoon, while L is at daycare and E is up visiting Grandpa, I thought I would finally get it done. And I did! The curtains don't quite match in length, I think because I cut them slightly crooked (I had them on the floor to compare length and they matched, but the ends that are next to each other at the window don't). It's close enough, though, so I'm not going to do them again.

Next in the sewing queue is finishing the curtains for the main bedroom. I have one finished (and up), I just need to do 2 more. I need to get Avlynn over here to help me. :)

Apparently I am the Early Morning

You're the time of day right around sunrise, when the sky is still a pale bluish gray. The streets are empty, and the grass and leaves are a little bit sparkly with dew. You are the sound of a few chirpy birds outside the window. You are quiet, peaceful, and contemplative. If you move slowly, it's not because you're lazy – it's because you know there's no reason to rush. You move like a relaxed cat, pausing for deep stretches that make your muscles feel alive. You are long sips of tea or coffee (out of a mug that's held with both hands) that slowly warm your insides just as the sun is brightening the sky.


While I like the early morning, I can't say that this really describes me. Relaxed? Moving slowly? Maybe in the early morning I'm like that; I love being up at 6, when it's quiet and every else is still asleep. I do some dishes or laundry, check email, maybe knit or make a to-do list for the day. But after the family wakes up and the day starts for the rest of the world, I'm a lot more like a twitchy cat, wanting to get things done and being generally peripatetic.

February is for Finishing

I got my step-mother's Odessa hat in the mail on Thursday, hurray! And I finished E's Mario hat later that afternoon, more hurrays! He was thrilled with it, despite not being the fan of Mario that he was 6 months ago. This leaves me with just a few things to finish for February:

• felted bear
• wrist warmers
• small afghan

The wrist warmers I should have finished last week. Come on, just sew those darn ends in! (It's not like I don't wear them, either, I just let the 2 ends dangle about.) The felted bear seems doomed to languish in a box, and I've thought about why I haven't finished it. I think I'm worried it won't come out very cute. I see lots of knitted toys on Rav and think how adorable the knitter has made the eyes, the perfect placement of the nose, a terrifically shaped mouth. I'm just not confident that mine will look that good, so I've been putting it off. Also, it's not a good project to do at my knitting group, or when I'm watching L, or in the car, or when I only have a few minutes, or, well, you get the idea. :)

I started a cabled hot water bottle cover yesterday during L's unfortunately short nap. I literally got as far as casting on and knitting about 20 stitches before she erupted into a full out cry. Phooey! I'm using up a skein on Lamb's Pride Worsted from my stash, originally bought several years ago at the wonderful, and now sadly gone, Straw into Gold. I bought 10 skeins of it at the time, 2 in each of 5 colors. 3 of the skeins went into Christmas stockings for the family, so the cover is using the orphan green yarn. If I can finish it soon it might be a late birthday gift for my sister, who is now living up in Canada. Brrrr!

stash accomplished

I finished organizing my stash this weekend. I wound up with 10 office file boxes (organized), 2 plastic boxes (small and medium, also both organized), and 3 file boxes and a medium plastic box that I haven't entered into Ravelry yet.

• 4 boxes of 100% wool
• 1 box of wool content (>= 50%)
• 1 box of wool content (<50%)
• 1 box of cotton and mostly-cotton
• 1 box of acrylic
• 1 box of "other" (not wool, acrylic, or cotton, so mostly mohair and rayon)
• 1 box of dishcloth cotton
• 1 box of sock yarn
• 1 box of roving (aka pre-yarn)

My knitting group is having a swap in a couple of weeks, and I can't honestly think of anything I'd like to swap. Except maybe some of the roving, if anyone there spins. I do have some partial balls that I'm unlikely to ever use, but now that I have everything in Ravelry it should be a lot easier to use them up. For example, I am almost finished with a red Mario hat for E. If I had checked my stash first I would have seen that I have 2 partial skeins of red yarn that would have been perfect. Instead I wound up buying 2 new balls of yarn (I only needed part of one, but I debated wool vs acrylic at the store and got one of each).

The 3 unorganized boxes are a jumble. There are a few good things in there that I just need to fish out, but the rest is mostly mystery yarn from my grandmother's stash. I will probably give some of it to my son's daycare provider and donate the rest or use it for toy stuffing.

It feels good to have the boxes put away and labelled. The next step is to organize the wool better (maybe sort out the superwash, or divide it by weight), but I'm in no hurry to start that.

What kind of knitter are you?

I just took this knitting personality test, where I was described as a contented knitter. And reading the description (happy to do the same stuff over and over again), I'd have to agree. What kind of knitter are you?

starting before I finish

I still have to finish J's Odessa hat. I just need to sew in 2 ends, wash and block it, and send it off. Maybe tomorrow if the kids are healthy and give me the afternoon off.

In other news, I started and almost finished a wrist warmer (need to sew in the ends to that, too!) And I started a larger project: a cabled afghan. Not a large one, more like a lap blanket or something like that. I'm using yarn I got from a swap with someone in my knitting group last year. It's 100% acrylic, maybe not the best fiber for a blanket, but it might be good for the kids for the car. Which would be funny, because for the past 2 days I've done a fair amount of knitting in the car while the kids napped.

I joined a new group on Ravelry: February is for Finishing. If I don't count the afghan (which I don't because I just started it with no expectations for finishing it quickly), I only have 4 projects to finish:
-J's hat (better be out the door before February)
-wrist warmers (come on, how long does it take to sew in ends?)
-E's Mario hat (need to add Mario emblem and maybe sew ends)
-felted bear (need to embroider face, stuff, and sew up front)

Totally doable! As long as I actually do them and don't start a lot of new projects. I think part of the problem is that most of what I need to do I need to do at home (i.e. not at my knitting group), and the time I am home both without children and awake is somewhat limited. So it seems easier to start new projects that I can take with me.

the stash

(added much later this evening: I remembered that I have two baskets worth of yarn I didn't take out, plus some miscellaneous bits of yarn floating around the house. lol)

flashing the stash

I pulled out most of my stash this afternoon. I've got 11 office boxes, several miscellaneous bags, and a couple of plastic boxes (that I currently can't get to because E is in that room napping). One of the office boxes just has roving, no yarn. The rest is yarn. A lot of yarn. Most of it is in Ravelry already, but I keep finding stuff that isn't. My goal is to organize it better so I can find stuff when I want it. The boxes are labeled, but not everything is in the correct box, and some types of yarn, like cotton, doesn't have a proper home.

I started a second wrist warmer yesterday. I made one a few years ago (2003?), and I finally decided it needed a mate. It's a simple 2x2 ribbed tube, knit in the round. Should be done later today.

Two FOs this week!

I finished J's Odessa hat and E's sweater this week! Yay!

The hat was knit, by accident, on size 9 needles instead of size 6. I realized yesterday why this was. It was in the same knitting bag as E's sweater, which I did on size 9 circulars. I *did* put size 6 circulars in the bag, but when I went to fetch them out I grabbed the larger ones by mistake. Oops! I like the way it turned out, though, and I'm hoping J will like it, too.

E's sweater I finished last night and he wore it to daycare today. I am so proud! He was really happy I finally finished it, although it took some coaxing to get it on him. I am not thrilled with the way the neck turned out; next time I knit a top-down raglan I want to do something more finished looking then just a stockinette stitch CO border (like a real collar or something). But for a little kid it works, since I know it'll be stretchy enough to go over his big head. And I love the color, it looks great with blue denim.

frog or finish

There's nothing like making a big mistake for putting me off knitting. I am working on an Odessa hat for my step-mother, now a very late Christmas gift. For some unknown reason, instead of switching to size 6 needles after the ribbing, I started using size 9. And I didn't realize it until yesterday, when I pulled out the size 6 DPNs to use when the diameter got too small for circulars. Gee, I thought, these DPNs seem a lot thinner than the circular needle I'm using right now. And indeed, they were. Hmph.

So, do I finish the hat as is, or rip it out? It's a little big and floppy, but not unusually so. I do have one more skein of the same yarn, so I can re-knit the hat with the correct needles, but it will take me another week. I am completely down on this hat, though, and even finishing what I've got (another 6 rows) seems to be a challenge right now. It wouldn't be so bad except it's a gift that was due a month ago, so I don't feel that I have the luxury of sitting on it for a couple of months.

more sweater progress

I finished the first sleeve of E's sweater last night at my knitting group. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the last ball of yarn, so I didn't make any more progress. I had E try on the sweater to make sure I got the sleeve length right. The sleeve looks ok, although next time I would do the arm decreases a bit differently (more rows between decrease rows to spread them out). I tried a stretchy bind-off for the sleeve, found here. It looks alright; it's definitely stretchier than what I would normally do, but I suspect something like a sewn bind-off would be better. I couldn't find the book that supposedly has the instructions for that, though, so I went with a simple BO.

slow sweater progress

I put E's sweater aside for a couple of months while I worked on some Christmas knitting. I still have Christmas knitting left to do, but that involves starting something, which I didn't feel like doing tonight. Instead I tried to figure out how I was decreasing the sleeve so I could write it down, continue the pattern, and be able to replicate it for the second sleeve. I think I've got it. The sweater is a top-down raglan knitted in the round. For each sleeve I started with 41 stitches + 4 picked up under the arm. I decrease 2 in a round, then knit 2 rounds plain, until I have 33 stitches. Now I will just knit to get a good arm length (must measure!), then do a bunch of decreases in one round to get down to 20-24 stitches, then 2x2 ribbing. Simple. In retrospect I wish I had more rounds between decrease rounds, but since I had already done a bunch of decreases, and I didn't feel like frogging, I left it. Overall I'm not super thrilled with the sweater, but I want to finish it before making a final judgment.

Resolutions for 2008

In no particular order:

1. Rip out the 3 sweaters I know I won't finish
2. Finish or frog any WIP started before 2008
3. Knit a pair of socks for each family member
4. Knit a sweater for each kid
5. Start AND finish L's baby blanket
6. Sort through old magazines and destash any that aren't interesting
7. Destash at swap or use up more stash
8. Organize existing stash and needles

#1 will be hard, because it means having to admit that the sweaters were mistakes, or that I just don't have the skills/desire/patience to fix or finish them. One is a sweater I designed myself using the Sweater Workshop; it is in 2 shades of purple that really don't go together. One is a kit I bought at Stitches; I find the yarn very scratchy and I don't like doing the color work. The third sweater is Haiku that I started for E nearly 2 years ago. The cast-on was wonky and it was doomed from the start, but instead of re-doing it right away, I knit the entire body before deciding it was unworkable. Plus now it won't fit him anyway.

#2 shouldn't be too bad. I've got a hat to knit for my step-mother for Christmas; technically not a WIP since I haven't started it yet, but it would be nice to get her gift to her this year. I have a hat for E that needs some embroidery, a sweater for E that needs sleeves, and a felted bear that needs embroidery, stuffing, and stitching. I also nearly finished a Harry Potter bookscarf for my mom for her birthday, but it looks awful, so it'll get frogged or tossed soon.

#3, well, I'll think about that later. At least the kids' socks are small.

#4 works well with #2, since I have a sweater in the works for E. I might try to redo Haiku for L with the same yarn after I frog it (#1). Just need to work on the cast-on.

#5 is a bear. I bought the yarn for L's blanket last year, thinking I would start on it right after finishing L's blanket (and before she was born). But I was so burned out on the first blanket that I knit a bunch of washcloths instead and haven't gone back to the blanket. I have the pattern and yarn, I just need to wind it into balls, swatch, and get started. I'll be thrilled if I can get it finished before the end of the year, but just getting it started will be a terrific first step.

#6 I have already started! I've gone through half of one magazine box of Knitters and found a few that I can part with. My knitting group is having a swap later this winter, so my goal is to go through all the magazines before then. I don't have that many, maybe about 100. I'll be happy if I can get rid of 20. While I'm reading through them I am also marking patterns I'd like to try and articles that look useful.

#7 also needs to happen, at least in part, before the winter swap. In theory I have no problem parting with yarn, but when it actually comes time to give it away, I balk and think of some reason why I may need it. Using it up myself would be easier, definitely!

#8 needs to happen before Stitches, so I know what I have before shopping for more stuff. I find needles all over the house, in the oddest places. My hope is that if all the needles are in one place it'll be faster to start projects. Right now I sometimes avoid starting something because I know hunting for the right size needle will take a long time. And using up the existing stash, #7, will be much easier if it's organized.