Minions (who do my bidding) and Followers (who do not)

About Me

My photo
Mama, wife, knitter, blogger, spinner, wannabe something or other. That's enough, right?

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Year SIX: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Update #27

Happy Sunday! I'm the weirdo that is only at the halfway mark while everyone else seems to be on a school schedule. No matter, let's get going :)


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
17. Pussy Hat: started April 30, 2017; finished May 13, 2017
18. Messed Up Moss: started January 4, 2017; finished May 17, 2017
19. Pussy Hat: started May 19. 2017; finished May 23, 2017
20. Pussy Hat: started May 24, 2017; finished May 26, 2017
21. Baby Pussy Hat: started May 26, 2017; finished May 26, 2017
22. Pussy Hat: started May 26, 2017; finished May 26, 2017
23. Bugga Bare (2 matching): started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
24. Bugga Bare: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
25. Bugga Bare: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
26. Malabrigo Twist: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
27. Malabrigo Twist: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
23. Vanilla Socks: started March 30, 2017; finished June 8, 2017
24. Stormageddon's Vest: started October 17 2016; finished June 9, 2017
25. BMFA Handpainted Roving: started March 23, 2017; finished June 23, 2017

I kind of left you on a cliffhanger last week. I intended to come back in and put the actual amount of yardage for the second skein but I kind of got distracted and forgot. So, the first skein was ~ 324 yds, the second skein was ~ 328 yds, and then I had teensy bit on another bobbin (plying leftovers from a bobbin one with leftovers from bobbin four)...and that would up being ~ 14 yds. So, in total, I had ~ 666 yds of the BMFA Handpainted Roving. Of course, I still haven't done an FO Friday and I really should look into getting one done before I start going crazy with Tour de Fleece, which started yesterday....so, here's to hoping? Maybe.


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. Morvarch Aardvark: started January 1, 2017
6. Stomping Grounds collection: started February 26, 2017 (no project page)
7. Hat Design: started March 20, 2017
8. Vanillaish Rainbow Socks: started June 1, 2017
9. Twilight Socks (from blanks): started June 8, 2017
10. Bonbon for Miss C: started June 24, 2017
11. Sandy's Palette Merino/Silk Roving: started July 1, 2017

With Tour de Fleece having started yesterday, I expect that I'll be doing a lot more spinning than knitting over the coming weeks. I'm okay with it if you are (and even if you're not).

Last week, I finished documenting everything in the yarn closet (meaning I pulled out project bags and shopping bags and such) and while I did that, I also pulled fiber for TdF. Actually, the reason I even did it at all was because I was going to be pulling fiber for TdF. Anyway, I got caught with my pants down last year (see here). I had originally planned on two projects, thinking I wouldn't get much spinning time in......oops. I wound up having to pull for five more projects and I believe I had started a sixth. Soooooo....I pulled out several this time around.

I started with the Sandy's Palette Merino/Silk Roving, as noted above. I picked this up at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool in 2011, the fall before we moved to California. Actually, I picked up two and they are slightly different colors. One is a teensy bit darker in the purple than the other one. I started with the lighter of the two.

In addition to that, I pulled the other Sandy's Pallette, a Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Kit (that I picked up at Goodwill a couple weeks ago), a Faerie Mountain Fibers Crazy Batt (picked up in a destash a couple years ago), Miss Babs BFL (from the same destash), and I think I pulled down a ball of multi-colored merino top. I hope that's enough. A couple of them are 8 oz servings, however, so I should be okay.

This was my first day's worth of spinning for Tour de Fleece (meaning yesterday's work):


This is the first 2ish oz of the Sandy's Palette. I actually started the second bobbin but I haven't photographed that.

Aside from spinning, I started another project (because I didn't have enough going on). I have nieces and a nephew that don't have handknit toys from me (yet) so I thought I should get a move on that. I picked out Bonbon by Susan Claudino for the oldest. I'm using some Cascade 220 Superwash I've had hanging about. Aside from some difficulty starting with so fe stitches on my needles, things are going well. I've finished both legs, both arms, the tail, and I've started the first ear. The ears take a little longer than the other appendages. Oh well.

My Vanillaish Rainbow Socks continue to grow. I fascinated the kids in Little Man's summer school class on Thursday. I took them with me and I was knitting on them before and after school. Kids asked questions, wanted to know what I was making, how I could do it without looking...it was cute.

And then we get to Oh She IS a Bad Nut....which is still on timeout and is still thinking about what it's done. I contacted the designer and, sadly, no one seems to have done a stitch count between markers.....so, what's a girl to do? I opened up a spreadsheet in Google Docs and started figuring things out. So far, I'm through the first two sections. I have to do it in spurts because it can make me go cross-eyed. Once I get through the third section, I can pull back to my lifeline and get things back in order...I hope. That's the plan, anyway. So no actual knitting on that project but I have been working on it.



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 **DONE**
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)

Yeah yeah, moving along...


"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)

Remember how I said I was going to leave these alone last week? Yeah, I lied. Well, I didn't lie on purpose but when I was pulling out fiber for TdF and wound up finishing the cleaning/organization of the yarn closet, all of my bags were emptied and things were put away. So, these bags no longer exist. I still have the yarn but no Secret Bags. I might redo a few but we'll see how that goes.


Children's Items:
1. Stuffed toy for Mr. K (SIL's foster child)
2. Stuffed toy for Miss E (SIL's adopted daughter)
3. Stuffed toy for TAZ (brother's daughter)
4. Undetermined hat for Little Man
5. Undetermined hat for Stormageddon
6. Mittens for Little Man
7. 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 (2)
3. Faerie Mountain Fibers Crazy Batt
4. Wash & start processing Alpaca fleece from Lambtown
5. Wash & start processing Merino fleece from Lambtown

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



When we left off, Husband had gone to Wisconsin on an emergency trip home and was expected to return home last Sunday, which happened. The last week has been (mostly) uneventful, actually.

Little Man had another bout of the Skeeters loving on him. He woke up Monday morning with maybe six bites on his face. Luckily, they didn't swell like the have in the past but he still was sporting a few good red marks and bumps.




He also had one right above his right eye (you can kind of see the redness in the bottom photo). At this point, they've mostly scabbed over and they're not itchy anymore. The one on his chin still has a pretty good bump on it. 


I also caught a couple photos of him running around like a loon before school on Monday. He and a few of the other kids play tag or hide-and-seek almost every morning before school. He's pretty good at hiding for hide-and-seek...actually, he's pretty good with tag, too. And Stormageddon took a selfie...well, I pushed the button...


Most of the rest of the week was pretty quiet. Stormageddon keeps taking his clothes off and running around the backyard....

...and car rides still make him sleepy. I'm pretty sure this was taken at the gym parking lot on Tuesday. I think.


In addition to that, we had this done...


While Husband was in Wisconsin, I was poking down wasp nests and came across a section that was...squishy. Spongey? Whatever, it didn't feel right. I had our realtor friend take a look and he said, "it's dry rot." Now, dry rot on a roof is equivalent to finding moths in your yarn stash. And, just like moths, it spreads. It's actually a fungus of some sort. So, said friend knew a contractor that specializes in roofing, we determined for sure it was dry rot, and on Friday, we had it fixed. Most of it occurred in one spot....for which I am to blame. When I was very very pregnant with Stormageddon (like I wound up having him a few days after this incident), Husband wanted to go up on the roof to take care of our black hoses we use to solar heat our ghettotastic pool. Okay fine. He put the ladder up and it was seriously almost at a 90-degree angle. I moved it out a bit before he got on it. That was the first mistake. My second mistake was that I wasn't standing at the bottom of the legs, bracing it in case it slid. Guess what happened? He stopped the full fall by bracing on the rain gutter and I threw my arms up under the ladder and straddled it from the front (I had a large lump on my left arm for a month). So, when he fell, he smacked the gutter inwards, which broke away from the facia board somehow and then we had a ton of rain this last winter and when the gutters were full, rain would go up and over...and into the crack...causing the issue. So, this is 100% my fault. I mean, I could have let him fall but then I'd probably be a single parent at this point. ::sigh:: So, the dry rot was fixed on Friday...and it was not cheap (nothing in California is cheap, honestly).

Friday afternoon was....frustrating. With the roofers there, they had propped open the back gate, unbeknownst to me. So, Stormageddon let Puppy out for a pee and Puppy took off running. I had a very sore throat from screaming at the top of my lungs for him to come back. What got him back? Our realtor friend was over, checking out the work, and he was going to hop in his car to go look and when he started the car, Puppy came running right back and hopped into his car. He was worried that our friend was leaving. Dumb dog. And then, in the afternoon, I managed to lose my Costco card. Well, I didn't actually lose it but it wasn't in my wallet, where it should have been. I found it at home, in my purse...where it should not have been but I'm glad it was there and not lost Bob knows where. And then, on top of all that, I got my third jury summons in as many years. No, I'm not even kidding. I had my first jury summons when Stormageddon was 5 months old. My second one was just over a year later. And now my third one is just over a year after that. Thankfully, it's for the second week in August, right before Husband leaves for Wisconsin. And given the track record of the last two, I either (1) won't have to go in at all, or (2) won't be chosen. So, here's to hoping. I mean, I understand why we have jury duty and all that but, seriously, it's a major inconvenience to non-working primary caregivers....because it means Husband has to take time off work or I have to find a sitter, thus inconveniencing others. So, not too thrilled about that.

Yesterday was a somewhat "lazy" day at home. TdF started so I spent some time spinning, we had friends over for barbecue (smoked brisket, specifically), some more spinning happened, some laundry happened....the usual.

 And today, we're going up to Santa Rosa for some pool fun and brisket and friends and fun :) I hope you're having a lovely weekend!

4 comments:

  1. I really love seeing all your spinning at this time of year, it's so interesting and something I still haven't found time to do! I had knitting with me at the children's school once also and the questions were brilliant from the little ones and not so little ones also. Sorry to hear about the dry rot, what a pita that must have been and yeah, how bad of you for not letting hubby fall..sighhhhh. Ruth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd love to see your spinning! I'm participating in Tour De Fleece for he first time this year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I always love seeing your list of projects - especially the growing boys project! And, you go girl with all those pussy hats.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I received my first (and only) jury summons when I was due to give birth to my (don't why I can't remember if it was my first or third) son. When I called the courthouse and explained, I was (unbelievably) told this wasn't an excusable reason, but I could write to the bailiff if wanted to. I wrote to the court, explaining that if I wasn't in labor, or recovering from giving birth, I would be nursing an infant so the judge/court needed to be prepared for me to bring my newborn to court with me. I didn't get a response, but when I called a week or so later I was told I was excused. I've always wanted to serve on a jury, but haven't received a summons since. My kids are old enough for me to be a grandma now (though I'm not one, yet). I've got the time and availability. I wonder if I'll ever be summoned again...

    ReplyDelete