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

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Year SEVEN: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Update #2

Hello and happy Sunday!

Last week's post was rather long and photo-y. Sorry about that. Originally, it didn't have that many photos because I honestly didn't think I was going to have the energy to sit and work on the post after our cruise. Hahaha. I'm cute.

So, last week was rather photo-y. This week probably won't have as many...we'll see.

Anyway, onwards!



FOs (Finished Objects)
1. Adare: started 30 December 2017; finished 5 January 2018

I hadn't even had a chance to wash the hat until Friday. I've been wearing it to school in the mornings. Stormageddon has stolen it at least twice. He seems to think I'm going to give up. Silly child. So, right now, it's hanging up, attempting to dry out. But at least it's been washed.



WIPs (Works-in-Progress)
 These are carried over from the last Year of Projects....or longer.
1. Wink: started 5 January 2015
2. Oh, She Is a Bad Nut: started 11 August 2016
3. Smooth Operator Socks: started 13 October 2016
4. Stomping Grounds Collection: started 26 February 2017
5. Hat Design: started 20 March 2017
6. Garter Stitch Baby Blanket: started 6 July 2017
7. Unnamed Hat Design: started 14 August 2017
8. Shetland Neck Wool (support spindle): started 8 September 2017
9. Gamer Bag: started 28 September 2017
10. Paradiddle Prototype: started 19 October 2017
11. Luck o' the Irish Cowl: started 31 December 2018

Honestly, the only thing I really worked on this week was the Luck o' the Irish Cowl. I think I'm going to throw it onto a holder of some sort and try it on, to see how it sits. I may or may not be finished with it very soon (like today, if I get a chance to knit). I also need to look into a stretchy bind-off so it really will fit over my head. I mean, I can do my normal bind-off but it may not be stretchy enough. With that said, I also don't want it so stretchy that it doesn't sit normally. Sooooo.....there's that.



OMGLSGWTFBBQ Lists

Children's Items
1. Stuffed toy for my Devil Niece (so-called because her initials are TAZ)
2. Undetermined hat for Little Man
3. Undetermined hat for Stormageddon
4. Mittens for Stormageddon
5. Oliver for Stormageddon (worsted weight - needs 3 colors, would need to buy...maybe do it with 2)
6. Lancelot for Little Man (worsted weight - green Plymouth Encore)
7. Dandy Sir Cephalopod (worsted weight - Red Creek blue, probably for #1 on this list)

Items for ME (selfish knitting FTW!)
1. Returning (fingering weight x3 colors- AFVKW Annapurna, brown Bleating Haven Corriedale and Sundara Silk Merino)
2. Brickless (worsted - Miss Babs Yowza in "Celebration") *
3. Honey Badger (fingering - BMFA STR L - one of the ones from Carrie)
4. Park Slope (fingering - Mountain Fibers Crazyfoot)
5. Maya's Shawl (bulky - Plucky Silk Merino Aran)
6. Companion Mitts (fingering - BMFA STR orange from Carrie) *
7. Forest Cardi (worsted - Baah Shasta in "London Blue" and....something....)
8. Flax (worsted - Cascade 220 in "Royal Blue" or Misti Alpaca Harry Potter color)
9. Jag in Garter Stitch (fingering - KP Palette grey and Artfibers Carezza)
10. Reichenbach (fingering - AVFKW Slick or BMFA STR-M in "Vintage")
11. Sockhead (fingering - Madelinetosh Merino Light)
12. Moab (fingering - Wollmeise in "Lavender")
13. Pumpkin Pie (DK - Kangaroo Dyer orange)
14. Age of Brass & Steam (DK - Berroco Comfort DK)
15. Anne's Sweater (sport - Artfibers something)
16. Moyen Age (fingering - Vice special order either grey or green)

Random Things
1. Pop Blanket (worsted - may need to order some yarn for this)
2. University of Wisconsin Ski Hat kit
3. University of Wisconsin Christmas Stocking kit
4. University of Wisconsin Button Beanie kit
5. Xandu Snowflake Cowl (fingering - two contrasting colors)
6. Granny Square Blanket (which means I need to learn to crochet)

Designs
1. Susan's Hat *started* - need new prototype & write pattern
2. Little Man's Baby Blanket *started* - write pattern
3. Paradiddle Socks  *started* - 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 - Old Navy hooded sweater with cable) - 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 *started* - need everything: charts, prototypes, swatches, etc.

Spinning
1. AVFKW Merino Silk
2.  Abstract Fiber Merino Tencel
3. Allons-Y Fiber Arts 18.5 Micron Merino
4. Allons-Y Fiber Arts Merino, Trilobal Nylon, Silk
5. Alpaca (from Lambtown 2014)
6. Ambrosia & Bliss Rambouillet Top
7. Anne's Fiber Expressions
8. Ashland Bay Fiber Merino Top
9. BMFA Handpainted Roving
10. Bramble Wool Farm Shetland Wool

Dyeing
1. Malabrigo Nube fiber
2. Gaia (worsted)
3. Euro Sock 6-ply
4. Whatever else I find in the bag...I have a bag...or maybe a couple of bags....

Other Fibery Endeavors
1. Stitch markers
2. Vintage patterns into Rav database
3. Inventory of books & loose patterns (update)
4. Inventory of PDF patterns (update)
5. Update yarn inventory (make sure it's up-to-date)/destash
6. Inventory project bags (Erin Lane, I'm looking at you)



It's been a whirlwind week around here. We arrived home from our cruise last Saturday, Sunday was spent trying to get caught up on a bunch of things (mostly laundry), and I feel like I've been trying to play catch-up all week long. Honestly, it's a week later and I'm still not caught up on laundry...I mean, it's done but it's not put away. Currently, I have two baskets filled with clean laundry that needs to be put away. I also have a dryer with clean towels and a basket of dirty laundry.

As such, photos are kind of limited this week. Like really limited.

We've had some rain around here so the snails have been coming out. We like the snails in our house. If we find them on the sidewalk or other unsafe place, we move them (well, Little Man and I will - Stormageddon is still a little scared of them). I found one swimming in some standing water. I moved it out of the water and I found it back in there a half hour later. Apparently I was disrupting lap time? I don't know.

Here are some of the snails we've found this week:








They seem to like my (dead) potted plants on the front steps. We had four tomato cages, a couple of sweet pepper plants in another pot, and another pot with jalapeƱos. They're all dead(ish) and I've just been far too lazy to deal with them.

One of the reasons this week has been so off is this man:


This is Arno (and the stolen commandeered Rasta Ski Cap I had finished on Christmas Eve). He passed away on Friday morning. He was our friend's father, 82 years old, and a stubborn Swiss German Jew (in many ways, he reminded me of my grandfather except my grandpa was Catholic). When he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, he was pissed that it messed up the rest of his ski season (last winter) and his biking endeavors (in the spring/summer). When he was in remission, he was back to doing all the things (swimming and biking mostly but he also loved to run around in his cars). Unfortunately, the cancer came back and he wasn't able to have chemo because he couldn't keep food down. He and his wife only had one child, who is, understandably, a mess. His wife also has Alzheimer's. She's still pretty good, honestly (my maternal grandmother had Alzheimer's and it was bad). She can make food, get herself dressed/undressed, bathed, and walk the dog without getting lost but she misplaced her wallet a few weeks ago and has no idea where it's hiding (it's in the house somewhere). Both her son and husband hid the car keys from her so she wouldn't attempt driving. She'll ask you the same question ten times in an hour, which may or may not be related (it may also be because she's 79 years old and is trying to be a good hostess). But she's still very sweet and drives her son bonkers.

We knew Arno was going to pass on soon. He was bad at Christmas and then we left for our cruise. We kept in contact while we were gone, hoping that he'd make it so we could see him again. Husband did get to see him again. Actually, he saw him a couple of times this past week: Monday night, Tuesday night, and Thursday night. The last time I had seen him was Christmas Eve. Honestly, I only met him a handful of times, though Husband knew him much better.

Either way, our week has just been really off. Between trying to get back into our routine and Arno's passing, we're all over the place. I feel like I've hardly seen Husband this week, the boys have been owly beyond measure, and this flu season is starting to take people down like flies (hopefully we've avoided the sickies...).

So, I'm short, confused, and a bit all over right now.

Let's hope next week is better! I hope you've had a lovely weekend :)




Have a bonus photo of a doberman wearing the Rastarmulke that I made for his owner (our friend & Arno's son).


Biggest. Baby. EVER!

6 comments:

  1. So sorry to hear of your friends passing.

    Love the snail photos. Not sure I would pick them up either. I am a bit squeamish about crawly things.

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  2. Sorry for your loss. I love to hear that he continued to do everything he loved as long as he could - no part of his life wasted!

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  3. Your friend sounds like an amazing man. I am sending you a cyber hug and hope that you and yours find peace in his life well lived.

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  4. It's rough when you're an only child (me) so I feel for your friend on his Dad's death. I love The Luck o' the Irish cowl and you have really been truckin' on that one! It's lovely and I put it in my favs. I hope you get back to some sort of normalcy this week. It's fun to get away but then it's all waiting for you when you get back. Take care and don't get sick!

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  5. So sorry to read about the passing of Arno. Love the photo of the rasta hat on the doberman.

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  6. Hi Renee. Thank you for your two cents; yes there are no laws. However, if the group wants to start from summer to summer that's its prerogative. I would rather dance to my own tune on my own. I just don't feel like being a part of YOP anymore.

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