Well, sorta. I am really proud though! Check out this link!
Month: December 2008
Let’s Pretend
Let’s pretend for awhile. Let’s pretend that France decides it doesn’t like how the US is run. And so, meaning well, it decides that we should have an election. Another one. So we hold the elections under the watchful eye of France. Then we elect Obama, fair and square. But this France doesn’t like Obama. So France doesn’t allow Obama to be the president, and decides that even though we elected him, they are going to choose, because we don’t actually know what we want. They may even imply that we are too stupid to know what is best for us, even though what we have been doing was working OK for us. They then send in their military to enforce the person that we didn’t elect.
Years go by, the US gets increasingly difficult to live in. The government gets increasingly corrupt and France is pulling all the strings. As civilians it is increasingly difficult to ensure safety for your family. Civilians don’t like this corruption and are trying to get the US back to normal as best they can, but the only option they have left is to strike out against the corruption. And those strikes are quelled quickly. Meanwhile homes are being lost, lives are being lost, and everyone is affected by this.
So what is left to do? Maybe you decide to move. You and your family, or maybe just you while leaving your family behind for a time, move. You don’t just move to Canada as many USians love to claim they will do, because Canada has been dealt the same hand. So you have to move somewhere completely different. Somewhere where everything is different from what you are familiar with. Say….Japan. The culture is different. The language is different. The characters used in writing are different. The foods are different (you love sushi, but it only goes so far). The major religion is different. You are so out of your element it hurts. And you have to live there for years. You can’t get the foods that are familiar to you. You can’t speak the language that is familiar to you. There is nothing that is within your comfort zone, you can’t even express yourself properly because there are pieces of the language that will always be foreign to you no matter how hard you try to learn them. You try to integrate as best as possible but as much of a home as you have made it, it is not home. It is not the home of your youth and familiarity.
But the alternative is no good either. Going home doesn’t work, because even the US is not home. Home is not what you are familiar with either. It has been bombed, and your home may not be there, you’ve lost people who are dear to you, your livelihood is not even an option anymore. France has militarized it and corrupted it and made it unsafe. People all around your home are also trying to leave. There are some who stay, deciding to become accustomed to this new reality rather than flee it.
What do you think your greatest desire would be? Would it not be to have the US revert back to the way it was before all the insanity began? The way you remember it to be? A way that was safe and not just “safe?” After all, you have not really chosen to leave, you were forced to do so.
And then someone from France comes along and says “Most American Japanese think anyone who willingly stays in the US is an idiot!” Would this not be the HEIGHT of hubris? Would this not be the most bold and uneducated statement you have ever heard? Wouldn’t it make you want to cry?
Happy New Year everyone, please give some thought and prayers to all the displaced people in the world.
Bug and Her Bike
She did get that coveted bike for Christmas, and despite my hurt that I wasn’t the one to get it for her, I was grateful to her grandparents for doing it. She got a bike with training wheels, and it lacked the “princess” theme that I can’t tolerate a whole lot of. She also got a helmet and elbow and knee pads.
The few days she was at her dads were spent riding the bike around the house. She apparently was on it all the time. He deemed it too cold to be outside riding in, but by the time I got home it was in the 40’s so I thought we could be outside. Plus, my old small house is not conducive to bike riding.
We took the bike out and she rode it around our driveway for a bit. But of course this isn’t really enough! So I promised to walk behind her while she rode. That kid rode all over our neighborhood with the happiest look on her face! She rode until we were both tired, she rode until our hands were too numb to feel, she rode until she shivered. And then we went in. The next day, directly after school, we had to repeat the process.
I started out immediately teaching her the things she needs to know while riding around the neighborhood. First I taught her how to use her brakes, because no one had done so yet. Then I taught her how to break at the streets, get off the bike, look both ways, and push the bike across. Now she does it on her own with my supervision only. Teach her the correct way FIRST and then I don’t have to fix bad habits. It is the rule of motorcycle riding and I figure it applies to bike riding and kids too.
I suspect that her bike riding will be good for my health. I don’t seem to have much choice but to take a walk in the evenings now. I DO hope that she will be willing to ride to school sometimes with me walking, in the spring. That would be good for both of us!
New page #1
Up under my title you will see a new page. Stash Bust 2009.
Seeing as I start January 1, 2009, all totals are 0 right now.
Central Park Hoodie in Dream in Color classy will be the first project of 2009. I’ve managed to get my WIP’s so under control that I only have 4 WIP’s left. I will not be listing yarn that is currently in use on my stash bust 2009 page. I will list yarn on 2008 WIP’s in which that particular ball of yarn was begun and finished in 2009. I still have to figure out what to do about partial skeins.
Do you want to know a secret? I am not entirely sure I will cast on my central park hoodie right on January 1. Why you might ask? We all know I am a sucker for knit alongs. But I am having such fun working on long term WIP’s that I just am not even sure I want to start something new!
Now, if you read that statement correctly you will realize that this shows real growth. Seriously! Over the past year it has been my goal to bring down my WIP list to a reasonable level. It has been tough, I’ve fallen down, but I have finally done it and it is satisfying.
That can only mean one thing. Surely 2009 can be the year I get my stash under control! I’ve proven that I CAN do it, now I have to put it into practice.
Lace Surgery
I’ve been working on the icarus shawl for quite some time now. On and off, since I cast on way back in May. One of the reasons it is going slow is because the section I am working on is rather repetative and does not fulfill my lace knitting needs. So in order to fix that little problem, I decided to take it to a knit night with the girls. Being that we meet for wine and knitting, it is a bit dark and I am usually somewhat distracted. So on one of those nights, I managed to make a jig where I should have jogged, and then jogged back when I should have jigged, and the resulting mess was not pleasing to the eye. You see, when you look at the shawl, the long lines (or bones as I call them) need to be perfect. And I had a broken bone. It needed surgery. I knew I couldn’t just leave it be, so of course I put the shawl into a long time out.
Since the holidays were quiet this year, and I was attempting to avoid casting on any new projects until January 1, I decided now was a good time to perform lace surgery.
Below is a picture of the problem, though I am not sure how easy it is to see it.
Right above my middle knuckles is the jig where there should have been a jog. At the tips of my fingers is the jog back. Not ok! I just didn’t want to see a broken bone in this shawl.
So, I thought I could document the lace surgery in case it would help someone else in the future. Early in the morning, when it was quiet, I armed myself with my surgical instruments.
A nice cup of coffee and two dpn’s just a bit smaller than the needles I am using to knit the shawl.
I then locate the problem stitches and drop them off the working needles. I push the stitches I am not working with WAY BACK on the working needles so that they aren’t going anywhere.
And then I do something which strikes fear in every knitters heart. I purposely drop the problem stitches back down to where I no longer have a problem.
You can see that I have indicated where I need to stop, because I know I don’t want to work any further down than I have to.
I picked up the problem stitches again, taking note of where I was within my pattern. Have I picked up on a right or wrong side row? This is critical information. I started with a right side row, and you can see the yarn overs on either side of the “bone” stitch.
Now I have a bunch of threads that need to be worked back into the project one by one. I start with the one closest to the dpn, making sure that I haven’t mixed them up.
I then begin to knit that thread into the pattern. I started with a pattern row, so my next row is a wrong side row, or a row that I would have purled if I was working back and forth. Seeing as I am working the entire surgery from the front of the project, I need to knit all the stitches in the next row.
Once I have incorporated that thread, I move the stitches to the right hand side of the dpn they are now on, and start the next row, a pattern row. I keep working each row until all the loose threads are worked back into the knitting.
I then put the surgery stitches back on the project needles and continue with the lace.
This is a picture of a set lace bone
You can see at some points there are still a few loose lace stitches, which is perfectly normal. Remember, surgery requires healing. It isn’t something that happens over night. These stitches will be stretched during blocking and will most likely be unnoticeable. If they are noticeable, I can then take a small needle and even out the stitches.
My first…
Pair of socks made out of the coveted and hunted Wollmeise.
Red hot firestarters, the pattern is firestarter by yarnissima.
This is my 20th pair of socks knit this year. I am going to try for 24 in 2009. Actually, I have a few fun projects in store. Stay tuned for a stash down page (in an attempt to keep me honest) which will chronicle just how much yarn I used in 2009. We have a central park hoodie knit along starting on January 1, and a month of sock knitting starting February 15.
I’ve been asked to share
And since I cannot show you that I have completed another clue on my mystic waters shawl, the one that has been on the needles since November 2007, because it is FAR too large, I will indeed share my doofy moment. By the way, I have only 4 clues left.
Now, to begin, we must realize that I drive a car that is 10 yrs old. It has about 113K miles on it. 4wd subaru. I’ve had the car forever, it was my first “real” car since the little ford aspire I bought before that counts as a golf cart not a car. Anyhow, my subie has been with me through thick and thin for the last 9 years and has really done me well. Now that she is getting a bit older, I worry about her. Almost constantly. I am in a state worry that she will die before September 2009 which is the earliest I could possibly afford to get a new car.
Now, as you probably already know, this year has been tough weather wise already. It has been pretty consistently below 0 F for weeks on end. And when I lived on the east coast there was a saying “too cold to snow” which the midwest did not get the memo about. Out here, it snows at -11F with no trouble at all.
Last Thursday night (the night of the bat) we were getting a nasty ice/snow storm. We got about 2 inches of freezing rain/sleet stuff and then got an inch of snow on top of that. Everything was frozen solid. The only way I could get the ice chipped off my car was to leave it running and heating up for half an hour before I started to chip away at it. It took until Sunday for me to get the 3 inches of ice off the hood of the car and off of the wipers. Even then, I couldn’t get the ice out of the tensioning system. Chipping the ice off the car had to be done in shifts, as the wind chill was -26F so I’d go out, chip at the ice, and 3 minutes later have to go in to warm my hands up as I couldn’t feel anything at all. So this tells you how miserable this year has been thus far weatherwise.
THE STORY (for those of you who want to skip).
The ice/snow storm put a sheet of ice in my driveway which I then had to chip away at on Friday. Luckily, as I mentioned, my neighbor came by with his snowblower and helped out. Then at about 10 PM the plow FINALLY made it past our house, dumping another load of ice back into my driveway. Saturday found me chipping away at a mound of ice at the end of my driveway during yet another snowstorm. I was miserable, and cold, and annoyed. That ice was not budging! So I manage to scrape enough off the top of the mound that I think I can get my 4wd subaru over it and I call it a morning.
Later that day, Bug is supposed to go to a friends house for a sleepover. She has been really looking forward to it, so I know that not going would have pretty dire consequences. I get her in the car, and attempt to pull out over the mound of ice at the end of the driveway. First try I can’t get the back wheels over the mound. Second try, wheels go over and then SSCCRRAAAAPE. Ugh, that sounded bad. So I pull forward into the driveway again and see what damage I’ve done to my car. I go look at the mound I have scraped, and right in the middle of it I see a splatter of yellow liquid. Crap, I’ve managed to do some real damage to the underside of the car and I am leaking. I look under the car, I can’t see anything dripping. I look under the front of the car. Nope, no dripping. What the heck was that all about?
I grab the shovel and scrape away at the ice some more in order to attempt to get the car out without scraping the bottom again. I am worried about the car and I am sure it will die at any moment, but somehow Bug’s desire to go to her friends wins out. I get the car out with no further damage. Now, it is -4F out and I am cold! I know that if the car dies we are going to be suffering. So I am concerned. I get the car to her friends house and deliver her there. I worry that the car won’t start when I get out. It does. I go pick up the buttons for the tangled yoke cardi, and worry that the car won’t start. It does. I begin to drive home.
This is when it occurs to me that I had not backed the car up far enough to scrape the bottom of the engine. Therefore I cannot see how I would have damaged something to make the car drip. I think about it a little more. Hm….that spray of yellow liquid…Um….have I just been in a panic over dog pee?
Happy Holidays everyone!
As promised
Untangled
You will have to wait for a full picture but I cannot resist posting a few pictures that I have taken on my own.
Tangled Yoke Cardigan
Yarn, Brooks Farms Acero in blue.
Size made was large at the hips and medium everywhere else.
Be prepared for a lot of pictures. I’ll be making this one again!
Allow me to introduce you
to Miles. I’ve had him since I was a kid, and now Bug plays with him. When she was smaller, she called him “smiles.” He feels like part of the family.
He is so accommodating, in fact he agreed to dress up as a baby girl in order that I could use him as a model for the handspun february baby sweater.
Um…WOW! I didn’t expect that!
So I was doing laundry yesterday and had brought up a basket full of clean laundry and set it on the floor. It was one of those “I’ll get to it later moments.” But without being asked, Missy Bug decided she could handle it, and she promptly folded everything and put it in its proper place. The only thing she didn’t feel like she could handle was the socks, so I showed her how to fold those together too, and she was thrilled. I had NO IDEA I had a laundry helper!
I hope I don’t burn down the tree!
Because one red hot firestarter is done, and it just looks like flames.
Yarn is wollmeise 80/20 in red hot chili and it is the most gorgeous yarn I have ever worked with for socks!
Digging out again
Yesterday evening the snow plow finally got to our street (actually, that was faster than usual) after my neighbor had used his snow blower on our driveway. This, of course, dumped a load of snow and ice back into my driveway. It was too late to go out and fix it so I left it ’till this morning. Around 9 I head out to fix the end of the driveway and realize that it is storming, again. I did my best to get some of the ice and did a full shovel of the new snow, but my poor shovel is going to crack if I keep using it to chip away at the ice and my sides and wrists are not going to recover!
Due to the storm, we’ve stayed in today. This causes me to have another sweater done right up to the point of putting buttons on. This is two sweaters lacking only the buttons. This should tell you how eager I am to sew on buttons! Granted, one is a baby sweater, so it didn’t take a lot of time.
This is the February Baby Sweater done in my own handspun merino which was navajo plyed. Hopefully I will have some finished object pictures tomorrow.
A Batty Update
After spending the morning trying to figure out where the bat came from, I remembered that behind one of Bug’s dressers is an entrance to the eaves. Now, this entrance is covered with plastic to keep out the bitter cold, but I really haven’t checked it this year. I worked half a day and came home to take a nap. Then I went to check the plastic, which was predictably not fastened too well anymore. I fixed that problem and went to pick up Bug.
We’ve had a pretty nasty icy storm out here, and getting to work was a chore. My car still has about 3 inches of ice on the hood and roof. As you can imagine, shoveling doesn’t do much good. After I picked Bug up from daycare we spent a bunch of time outdoors, me attempting to shovel and she attempting to help. The neighbor 2 doors down took pity on me and came over with the snow blower. Very very kind of him, and now I think I know who does this every now and again while I am at work! Then Bug made her first snow angel of the year, and I couldn’t resist a picture.
And finally I need to give you a sneak preview of the tangled yoke cadigan which I am extraordinarily happy with. It fits well, looks great, and wants buttons! Silver ones, I need to go find them tomorrow.
I hope that I can get a coworker to take a finished picture on Monday.
My Crazy Night
Let me tell you about it.
I went to bed at a reasonable time after having blocked the tangled yoke cardigan. I was feeling pretty good about myself. I went to sleep quickly. Somewhere in the middle of the night, I am awoken by something. I look at the curtain at the end of my bed, and there seems to be a black blob hanging on it. I say to myself, surely that can’t be what I think it is….but since I don’t have my glasses on, I really cannot be sure. I slowly reach out and grab my glasses, and put them on. When I do, the black blob stretches out its wings just so I can be absolutely sure it is indeed what I think it is.
A bat.
And it chooses this moment to start flying around my room. I cover my head since it is flying low, and sort of freak out for a moment. I then reach for the light a couple of times but lose courage. Then I stop and think a moment, which is a bit tough with a bat flying around your room! OK, what do I know about bats? Well, they don’t LIKE light. And where could this bat have come from? Probably upstairs, in Bugs room. The door is open, that would be logical. OK, if I turn on the light in this room, maybe it will fly out to the living room, and if I strategically turn the lights on maybe I can get it to go back up to Bug’s room, get Bug downstairs to my room, and sequester the bat until the morning. OK, good, a plan.
I gather my courage to reach out from under the covers and click on the light. I hear no bat. I peek out from under the covers. No bat. OK, good, plan seems to be working. I get out of bed and get dressed, because the thought of chasing a bat in my skivvies just wasn’t doing it for me. I turn on all the lights one by one downstairs, and see no bat. OK, perhaps it already made its way upstairs.
I go upstairs and get Bug, and bring her back down to my bed. She is still sleeping, so all seems well. I lightly close the door to my room, adrenaline pumping, and try to figure out what to do. I’ve been carrying a towel around with me in order to throw it over the bat if I see it. I think some more, but I really can’t think of what to do, and I really don’t know where the bat is. And since I am by myself, I decide to do the thing that every child wants to do from time to time in their adult life. I called mom and dad!
Mom sympathizes in a way only a mother can do, and suggests wetting the towel to give it some heft. Dad doesn’t seem convinced my friend the bat is upstairs. To be honest, I was so wired I don’t think I remember much of the conversation. Mom reminded me that if I got bitten I should probably try to save the bat and get it tested. I really hoped it wouldn’t come to that!
I then crawled into my bed with Bug. I turned out the lights and closed the doors. It became apparent to me about half an hour later, that I had “protected” my daughter by bringing her INTO the room with the bat. I turn on the lights, take Bug upstairs. By this time Bug is getting somewhat annoyed with me. She is trying so hard to sleep through it all, but she is looking at me funny. I don’t want to tell her why mommy is all whacked out on adrenaline, so I turn her music on and shut her door. I come downstairs, and sit on the couch.
My intention at this point is to keep the bat sequestered to the bedroom, but to just not deal with it. Basically, I want to call the landlady in the morning and have one of her sons come take care of this issue. I just am not ready to deal. But as the night wore on, it became apparent that no matter how tired I was, I wasn’t going to sleep with a bat in the house. And then I start to think about what would happen if the landlady and her sons cannot find the bat. Then I’ve got countless other sleepless nights wondering just where the bat went and when I was going to have to deal with it next. At this point, it is about 5 AM, and I’ve been up since 1:45 AM.
So I get fed up! I mean, absolutely fed up. I do NOT like losing my sleep, sleep is a precious precious thing! So I decide I AM going to at least attempt to catch the bat. With my trusty weapon, a wet towel, I enter my room and turn on the light. Now I can’t quite figure out what to do. Where do I start? What do I look behind? Luckily it doesn’t take long for friendly Mr. bat to make his appearance. In fact, he came up from my curtain behind my dresser and plopped himself RIGHT ON MY PILLOW. Well thank you for that friendly Mr Bat! You scare me a little! I think that now is my chance, but I am a little scared to move. I am standing there thinking of the wet mouse incident where we both just looked at each other wondering who didn’t belong! Thankfully I was able to gather my wits, open the wet towel, and throw it over the bat. I then picked the pillow up while holding the towel down, took the whole thing outside, and shook them out. Friendly Mr. bat flew over to the neighbors house, and I really hope he isn’t so friendly that he comes back here!
Of course then my adrenaline was really pumping. I mean, I CAUGHT a bat, all by myself! I had to call mom and dad. I had to share my joy! I CAUGHT A BAT! I did it! I have had NO sleep, a bunch of extra knitting time, a whole lot of worry, but I caught that bat.
*Sigh* Do I HAVE to go to work today???
Conversations with the Bug
Bug: Mom, I think I want a bike for Christmas
Me: Really?
Bug: Yes, one with 2 wheels.
Me: Like a big girl bike…
Bug: Yes, a big sister bike. Maybe it can have Ariel on it.
Me: Bug, you do know that if you get a bike for Christmas, you won’t be able to ride it until the spring.
Bug: It’s ok Mom, I can wait. I’ll just wait until the snow goes away and I am a big sister.
Me: You are getting to be such a big girl!
I think I will make her a card with a bike on it, and then get her a bike in the spring. Maybe then she can help pick it out.
Edited to add….
OK, since Minnie pointed out that this could be misconstrued, let me just say that when Bug says “Big Sister” she means when she is older. She does not seem to equate “sister” with sibling. And no, there is nothing new which I need to share. LOL
Help us out!
Kindly view this video if you have a chance, this is one of my labs, and they are in a competition for the highest number of views for this video.
Hello Gorgeous Cables!
The tangles didn’t tangle my brain completely, though there was some concern about that. I finished them up today and they are just stunning!
I also tried on the cardigan and am happy to report that it does fit….excepting a bit of shortness in the arms (big surprise, I should learn to compensate for that!)
Just a bit more knitting and some finishing and I’ll have a lovely little sweater to wear for the holiday season.
Stay tuned for another cabled sweater starting in January! That’s right, a few of us have decided to do a knit along for the central park hoodie. We start in the new year, and I have the yarn all set to go. Until then, I will work on finishing up a pair of socks and a baby sweater, and then some WIP’s.
Red Hot Firestarters
This is most likely the last pair of socks of 2008. Talk about going out with a bang! Last year at this time, I was not even all that interested in knitting socks. I was a confirmed non sock knitter. 20 pairs of socks later I am contemplating knitting socks for an entire month!
I love the wollmeise yarn, it knits up into a fantastic fabric! I think I’ve found the perfect size needles for it, and I am enjoying the simple lines of the firestarter pattern.
I’ve also got another baby on the way to knit for, so I broke out some handspun and started a February baby sweater.
It goes pretty quickly after working the large version!
I am not sure what the weekend agenda is, if it is socks or tangled yoke cardi. It might have to be socks as I am really enjoying them right now.
Taking Stock
It isn’t quite the end of the year, but it is close. And as I looked back over my projects for the year, I see that quite a bit has been knit. I did not keep track of the spinning at all this year, but thought a few stats about the knitting would be interesting. Here is how it stands thus far for 2008.
Completed objects:
* 11 scarves
* 5 sweaters
* 19 pairs of socks
* 5 hats
There were other small items here and there, as well as some lace.
8 of those scarves were knit on commission or for a trade.
3 pairs of socks were knit for trade
8 pairs of socks were gifted
2 sweaters were gifted
Only 3 projects were for my daughter, which is slightly sad.
I stand a good chance of finishing another sweater, another pair of socks, and a baby sweater before the end of the year.
My Birthday
It started with a kid who woke up saying “Mommy! Its your birthday!!!! We are going to the BOOKSTORE! Are you turning 21?”
Now, in order to understand this next part, you have to understand our longstanding work tradition for birthdays. You see, we like sweets. But not just any sweets. We like good cake, cake from the European bakery. Not just any birthday cake, but beautiful delicious torte. So when we have a birthday in the office, the two who are not having the birthday pitch in to buy the birthday person a torte. And we basically eat nothing but cake all day long. Sometimes right into the next day.
I start earlier than all my coworkers. There had been some talk of favorite coworker baking a cake that I love. She came in, and I saw no cake in her hands. So I thought perhaps that crafty coworker was picking up a torte instead. Crafty coworker walks in, no torte. It is then that I realize that they have forgotten my birthday. I, being pretty easy going, thought rather than remind them, I’d see how long it took them to figure it out. Because in the end it would be pretty funny!
Now, my drivers license expired today, so I had to go to the DMV. I went a bit early, in order to avoid the lines. I totally expected that they would have figured it out by the time I got back, since why else would I have to get my license renewed?
I got to the DMV where I was well flattered by the guy giving the eye exam. He looked at my license, looked at me, and back at my license. He then said, “Um, I thought you were here for your 21st b day renewal.” I, being overly blunt most of the time, said “Thank you, I never know when that stuff is flattery.” This would probably be better left unsaid, but I wasn’t thinking. He said “Let me just put it this way, it is obvious you take very good care of yourself.” So that was a nice little gift. As were the lack of lines.
I get back to the office, and I notice that my coworkers are sort of scurrying around. I think nothing of it, as it is around lunchtime. Then crafty coworker tells me she is sorry for missing my birthday, she thought it was the 19th. I then get THIS card from her. (Please be warned that these cards are somewhat on the sick and politically incorrect side.) I read the card, and then said “Yes, and apparently you’d do it very well!” (personally I thought THIS one would have been appropriate. From what I hear, it did get considered.) I also got an ecard blaming the “office birthday scrooge” of all things! Apparently even the gift shops had it in for my poor coworkers because none of them had dark chocolate in stock.
I then let them know that them forgetting, and then getting to watch them squirm, could very well have been the best gift ever, because it was so funny! So crafty coworker tells me that the only reason they figured it out was because my mom called while I was gone, and said “Oh, don’t tell her I called, I just wanted to wish her a happy birthday!” Well, I do so wish I could have been there to see their faces after that one! Classic!
We are having cake at a later date by the way, and I did tell them “I am SOO blogging this” to which they said they already figured I would.
So we did have a bookstore knit night tonight, in which I worked some more on the tangled yoke cardi. Against my better judgement, I am going to show it off again. The arms are attached and I am knitting some never ending rows before I start the tangled part. This is probably the last you will see of it until I am done with the cabling.
Tangled update
Now that I am done with the holiday knitting, I’ve had the opportunity to take a bit of time off and then begin again on projects that are my own. Selfish knitting if I may. I am fairly certain the tangled yoke cardi is getting the most action, I’ve started the second sleeve. Though it felt like it was languishing, now that I took a picture of it, I can see that I really don’t have too far to go. On the other hand, the most confusing and “tangled” part of it is left, and that has me about shaking in my boots!
I also started my December sock, but I haven’t done anything besides the toe. This is the least motivated I have been yet about a monthly sock challenge. I am sure I will get to it, but it may take me awhile. The sock is called Firestarter, and I am knitting it in wollmeise 80/20 color red hot chili. Hence its name, red hot firestarter.
The other project I am working on, rather slowly, is the old mystic waters shawl. I haven’t touched it in so long, so it is like pulling out a whole new project!
Bug spent two days with her Mamo and her dad. They baked and decorated Christmas cookies. She had so much fun, and is in such a good mood for it! They brought me some cookies too, so I got to enjoy her beautifully decorated tasty treats!
6 Projects in 5 Weeks, day 17
Where Shells happily wraps it up!
The final scarf is done. Knitpicks wool of the andes in a 3×3 rib pattern. Wool was held double throughout and knit on US10.5 needles. A fast knit, which is why I saved it for last.
I completed my personal challenge in less than half the time I figured I would. Though I don’t regret the time alloted, as if anything had gone wrong, or if I’d not had a vacation in there somewhere, it could have easily taken me the full amount of time. I am glad to be finished, and I find myself now wanting to work on larger projects that cannot be completed in a week or less no matter how hard I would try. I am going to leave you, dear readers, for the weekend and then post the progress on my own projects which I have made during the past few weeks.
6 projects in 5 weeks, day 16
Wherein Shells applies a distraction technique once again.
This is 191 yards of thick/thin spun wool top which I worked on over thanksgiving vacation. I found that the wool did not want to submit to my sock yarn attempts, so I gave it up and let it be as lofty and light as it wanted to be. I have another 4 oz. to spin and hope to get as much yardage out of that as well. But, that will be a project for next week…seeing as I will have a finished scarf for you tomorrow!
6 projects in 5 weeks, day 15
Wherein Shells starts her final project before project # 5 is finished.
Isn’t this fun? *twitch*
This pair of Maine Morning Mitts were so fun that I started them yesterday morning and finished them this morning. They were very addicting and I can barely resist casting on another pair right away! They match the final scarf perfectly, the ribbing on the mitts mimics the ribbing on the scarf.
5 projects in 5 weeks, day 14
Wherein Shells gets right back on target with the final scarf.
This is, officially, project 5. Which means that I am on target to complete my challenge in half the time I alloted for it. That being said, I have decided to add another project to the challenge, officially renaming this challenge to 6 projects in 5 weeks. So stay tuned for the next project in line, which is NOT a scarf!
5 Projects in 5 Weeks, day 13
In which Shells takes a much needed break.
I finished the dream in color scarf and realized that the yarn for the last project has not yet been delivered. What is to be done then but some work on things I like to do? I did a bit of knitting on my tangled yoke cardigan, I brought it to the place where I need to start the sleeves. I also finished a spinning project that has been on the bobbins for quite some time now.
313 yards 3 ply sock weight yarn which I call “Pink Granite.” The fiber content is 60% merino, 40% bamboo.
Shown in the first official snow of the season!
I have to admit, I was somewhat reluctant for the yarn to arrive. Alas, it did, so the next project must begin.
Suzy Sells Sea Shells 