Year SIX: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Update #19

Happy Sunday! Let's get going for the day....


Finished Objects (FOs):
1. Pussy Hat: started January 10, 2017; finished January 16, 2017
2. Hermione's Everyday Socks (v2): started November 14, 2016; finished January 28, 2017
3. Frene Creek Farm Corriedale (spinning): started October 12, 2016; finished January 16, 2017
4. Pikachu Hat: started February 3, 2017; finished February 10, 2017
5. Trusty (v2): started December 22, 2016; finished February 24, 2017
6. Pussy Hat: started February 13, 2017; finished February 27, 2017
7. Pussy Hat: started March 2, 2017; finished March 8, 2017
8. Pussy Hat: started March 9, 2017; finished March 21, 2017
9. Pussy Hat: started March 21, 2017; finished March 30, 2017
10. FlockSock Yarn #1: started April 5, 2017; finished April 5, 2017
11. FlockSock Yarn #2: started April 5, 2017; finished April 5, 2017
12. #initiateknitdesign challenge from ArohaKnits: started April 3, 2017; finished April 11, 2017
13. Knit Picks Bare Palette Fingering: started April 9, 2017; finished April 9, 2017
14. Malabrigo Rios: started April 9, 2017; finished April 9, 2017
15. Nashua Creative Focus Superwash: started April 9, 2017; finished April 9, 2017
16. Pussy Hat: started April 13, 2017; finished April 30, 2017

I finished up the 5th Pussy Hat this past week and I will admit to playing yarn chicken....

.....in which I won. That little bit was all I had left after using two leftover balls from previous projects. So, that's awesome. I haven't done a proper wash/block or FO Friday (yet). I think I'm going to wind up doing a Pussy Hat Roundup or something when I finish all of them. Or not. We'll see.


Works-in-Progress (WIPs):
1. Wink: started January 5, 2015
2. Oh, She IS a Bad Nut: started August 11, 2016
3. Fall in San Francisco (prototype 3): started October 4, 2016
4. Smooth Operator Socks: started October 13, 2016
5. Stormageddon's Vest: started October 17, 2016
6. Morvarch Aardvark: started January 1, 2017
7. Messed Up Moss: started January 4, 2017
8. Stomping Grounds collection: started February 26, 2017 (no project page)
9. Hat Design: started March 20, 2017
10. BMFA Handpainted Roving: started March 23, 2017
11. Vanilla Socks: started March 30, 2017
12. Pussy Hat: started April 30, 2017

And because I finished up a Pussy Hat, I started another one. This one has a 1x2 ribbing on the brim and I've just started the stockinette hell portion. I hope to finish it sometime this week but we'll see how things go as I've not had a lot of time to knit lately.

I think the only other project that saw any action this week was my second Vanilla Sock....and I'm still on the cuff. I'm not sure what that says about me but it probably says I haven't done a lot of knitting this week.

Oh well.


17 UFOs in 2017
1. Wink: started January 5, 2015
2. Oh, She IS a Bad Nut: started August 11, 2016
3. Fall in San Francisco (prototype 3): started October 4, 2016
4. Frene Creek Farm Corriedale (spinning): started October 12, 2016; finished January 16, 2017 **DONE**
5. Smooth Operator Socks: started October 13, 2016
6. Stormageddon's Vest: started October 17, 2016
7. Hermione's Everyday Socks (v2): started November 14, 2016; finished January 28, 2017 **DONE**
8. Trusty (v2): started December 22, 2016 **DONE**
9. Design: Susan's Hat
10. Design: Little Man's Baby Blanket
11. Design: Paradiddle Socks (aka Little Drummer Girl)
12. Design: Pacific Waves Hat
13. Design: Fall in San Francisco Hat
14. Stash Inventory (photos, in Rav database) **DONE**
15. Dystopian Novel
16. Doctor Who blanket (1)
17. Doctor Who blanket (2)

Okay, let's have a talk about this. It's May. We are 1/3ish of the way through the year. I have four things finished on this list of seventeen items.  Four. To keep up with the average over time, I should probably have six done. To be fair, I know Wink, and the Bad Nut shawl are going to take awhile (meaning they probably won't be finished this year at all). I also know that I'm almost finished with Stormageddon's Vest. I also know that the novel is going to take a long time. So, really, on this list of seventeen items, I have four finished, one almost finished, three that are going to take longer than this year to finish...which leaves eight items left on the list. Of those eight items, half are design projects in various states of completeness. The remaining four items....two are fleece blankets that just require space and no children so I can work on them, and the other two are actual knitting projects. Soooo, I suppose it's not that bad. But I feel like I should be so much further along than I am. ::sigh::


Moving along....

And in my "OMGLSGWTFBBQ" lists...

Secret Sock Club Bags - Pick a bag at random; do pattern with yarn
1. Scotch & Soda Scarf (using Briar Rose Fibers Wistful, leftover from my Icarus Shawl)
2. Jabberwonky (using KP Felici in Abracadabra)
3. If You Know Where To Go (using KP Felici in Green Veggies)
4. Baby Surprise Jacket (using....htNEVELE something something)

These are the only ones that are currently set up. I have plans to make a few more but we'll see how things go. With all the WIPs and such I have going, this may not be a good idea at this point. Or maybe I'll pull things from the lists below and put them into bags. I don't know.


Stranded Knitting
1. University of Wisconsin Ski Hat (kit)
2. University of Wisconsin Christmas Stocking (kit)
3. University of Wisconsin Button Beanie (kit)
4. Xanadu Snowflake Cowl
5. Unknown Christmas Stocking for Little Man (see also: Designs)
6. Unknown Christmas Stocking for Stormageddon (see also: Designs)
7. Unknown Christmas Stocking for Husband (see also: Designs)


Children's Items:
1. Stuffed toy for Miss C (SIL's foster child)
2. Stuffed toy for Mr. K (SIL's foster child)
3. Stuffed toy for Miss E (SIL's adopted daughter)
4. Stuffed toy for TAZ (brother's daughter)
5. Undetermined hat for Little Man
6. Undetermined hat for Stormageddon
7. Mittens for Little Man
8. Mittens for Stormageddon


Items for ME (selfish knitting FTW!):
1. Park Slope (fingering, specifically Mountain Colors Crazy Foot)
2. Worsted weight house socks (worsted, of course - maybe something like Lumberjack)
3. Classic Silk Mayfaire Camisole (Miss Babs Northumbria with modifications)
4. Evangeline (worsted; solid or semi-solid)
5. Lichen (Aran or Sport/DK; solid or semi-solid)
6. Moyen Age (fingering; one of my Vice Yarns? Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20?)
7. Ginny's Cardigan (DK; solid or semi-solid)
8. Drip Drip Drop (sock; solid or semi-solid)
9. Celtic Myths (worsted; solid)
10. Jag in Garter Stitch (DK; 2 colors)
11. Cobh (fingering; 2 colors)
12. Offhand Lace (bulky; solid or semi-solid)
13. Whitman (DK; any color)
14. Flax (worsted; any color - Misti Alpaca Harry Potter-esque one?)
15. Hoar Frost (Wollmeise that's wound in the bag)


Christmas/Charity Bin:
1. 198 Yds of Heaven (worsted; solid)
2. Comfort Food (Aran; solid)
3. Tombreck (worsted; solid or semi-solid)
4. Premie Spiral Hat (DK; any color)
5. Pumpkins & a Pattern (any weight, any color - gauge doesn't matter)


Designs:
1. Susan's Hat *started* - need new prototype & write pattern
2. Little Man's Baby Blanket *started* - write pattern
3. Paradiddle Socks - need prototype & write pattern
4. Pacific Waves Hat *started* - need another prototype & write pattern
5. Fall in San Francisco *started* - need another prototype & write pattern
6. Stormageddon's Baby Blanket - need prototype & write pattern
7. Cabled pullover (grey look-alike sweater) - need sketch, grading, swatch, prototype, & write pattern
8. Christmas stocking for Little Man - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)
9. Christmas stocking for Stormageddon - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)
10. Christmas stocking for Husband - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)
11. Stomping Grounds collection (everything: charts, prototypes, swatches, etc.) *started*


Spinning:
1. Miss Babs BFL
2. Sandy's Palette Merino/Silk (1)
3. Sandy's Palette Merino/Silk (2)
4. Faerie Mountain Fibers Crazy Batt
5. Wash & start processing Alpaca fleece from Lambtown
6. Wash & start processing Merino fleece from Lambtown


Other:
1. Stitch markers
2. Make sure my vintage patterns are in Ravelry (Workbasket magazines, leaflets, etc.)




And now, another installment of "California Living" with me, your lovely hostess.

This past week has been HOT. We had three days in a row where we ran the air conditioners, one day where it was still warm but we were okay with just opening the windows, and the weather finally started to act normally on Friday. But there were a few days that were kind of miserable and icky and "I don't wanna do anything" kind of days.

The upside to all of this is that we now have our pool up and running. It's not 100% clean on the bottom but a few days of Pool-E will take care of a lot of that. Pool-E is our pool cleaner robot (and no, they're not actually called that but that's what we named ours). We spent a few afternoons in the pool, which was hanging around 82ºF. On Sunday afternoon, after we had been in the pool and were all dried off and such, we were sitting on the back deck, having dinner, enjoying the day, watching the wildlife...

...see that little bird on the wire? It's hard to see in the photo but it's on the bottom thick wire and kind of looks like a grey blob. That bird sucks bozons. This was after it had flown inside our open back screen door, smacked the window in the front room, and flew back outside. I am not a fan of birds to begin with but birds flying loose inside buildings freaks me out for some reason. The zoo doesn't bother me because they're all within netted enclosures but houses, garages, places of business, etc....that just freaks me out.

The worst part about having a bird in the house? Our lazy bird dog didn't even flinch.

To be fair, this was taken a day or two later but he was doing that outside, right by the open door. Lazy dog. Oh, and the orange on his back leg is from sidewalk chalk. The boys got a HUGE box of sidewalk chalk from my best friend and have promptly dumped all of it outside and have been using it all over in the backyard (mostly on the sidewalk, even!). Puppy, being as lazy as he is, happened to be laying in some for awhile and now has an orange leg. He also got into some blue on one of his other legs but that has mostly worn off.

Stormageddon hasn't been sleeping through the night again. I don't know if his room is too warm at night or if it's because of the pollution levels and he's coughing and such or a growth spurt or....I have no idea. He wound up sleeping with us at least part of the night several times this week. Two nights in a row were because we had Airbnb people in the back and I didn't want to wake them and then one other day because he was coughing so much. Poor kiddo. I really hope this phase is over soon. I like sleep.

Little Man, on the other hand, has had kind of a rough week, which will result in a conference with his teacher this coming Thursday. The bottom line is that he's been hitting other kids at school and, of course, parents have been complaining. As far as I know, it's only been two kids but it could be more I suppose. He's not one to just hit someone. There's usually a reason; it's perhaps not what an adult would consider a "good" reason but it's still a reason. He knows he's not supposed to hit anyone for any reason but there's some sort of disconnect between "in the moment" and when we talk about it otherwise. However, Thursday and Friday he had wonderful days, including at least one incident where he did manage to walk away when others were not listening to his words and go to an adult. He has also done it at home several times over the last few days. I know he gets it but he needs the reminders. Truthfully, I think everything just came to a head this week and it'll drop right off again. I hope.

In other random things going on around here, we have been doing some work in our back room and our front room...specifically, we have two bookshelves of the same type in each room. The one in the back had our beer/liquor stuff (glasses, trays, shot glasses, hard liquor bottles, etc.) and the one in the front room was mostly decor. We switched out everything and I had about two diaper boxes worth of glassware to get rid of. It was time to go through all of that anyway. We also did some rearranging in there, which I feel like we just did not that long ago, and I'm not wrong...but this was a bit different. It encouraged us to look at everything we had and decide whether we really wanted it or not. Turns out we had a bunch of things we hadn't used and weren't going to be too upset about giving up. So, that was helpful.

I didn't get any photos of Little Man this week but I did catch Stormageddon sleeping in our bed more than once. He sleeps exactly like Little Man used to (which is also how I used to sleep...and still do on occasion).

I hope you're having a lovely weekend :)