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

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Year SEVEN: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Update #8

Happy Sunday :)

I'm spending the weekend at Little Man's school's gym for auction-related stuff so this post may or may not be all over the place :) Forgive me if I go astray....


FOs (Finished Objects)
1. Adare: started 30 December 2017; finished 5 January 2018
2. Luck o' the Irish Cowl: started 31 December 2017; finished 14 January 2018
3. Rasta Scarf: started 19 January 2018; finished 10 February 2018
4. Rastarmulke (v2): started 10 February 2018; finished 10 February 2018
5. Gamer Bag: started 28 September 2017; frogged 16 February 2018
6. Oh, She Is a Bad Nut: started 11 August 2016; frogged 16 February 2018

Nope. Nothing new to see here :)


WIPs (Works-in-Progress) These are carried over from the last Year of Projects....or longer.
1. Wink: started 5 January 2015
2. Smooth Operator Socks: started 13 October 2016
3. Stomping Grounds Collection: started 26 February 2017
4. Hat Design: started 20 March 2017
5. Garter Stitch Baby Blanket: started 6 July 2017
6. Unnamed Hat Design: started 14 August 2017
7. Shetland Neck Wool (support spindle): started 8 September 2017
8. Paradiddle Prototype: started 19 October 2017
9. Returning: started 14 January 2018

This week, the only project I've worked on is the baby blanket. I'm on the fourth and final ball. At this point, I'm playing yarn chicken. With everything going on elsewhere in my life, this is the only project with the least amount of brain power required.....meaning I could sit and work and not screw up too much (I did have a dropped stitch or two, which I managed to fix quickly). So, 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 - Stunning String Studio from Stitches West 2018)
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. Brickless (worsted - Miss Babs Yowza in "Celebration") *
2. Honey Badger (fingering - BMFA STR L - one of the ones from Carrie)
3. Park Slope (fingering - Mountain Fibers Crazyfoot)
4. Maya's Shawl (bulky - Plucky Silk Merino Aran)
5. Companion Mitts (fingering - BMFA STR orange from Carrie) *
6. Forest Cardi (worsted - Baah Shasta in "London Blue" and....something....)
7. Flax (worsted - Cascade 220 in "Royal Blue" or Misti Alpaca Harry Potter color)
8. Jag in Garter Stitch (fingering - KP Palette grey and Artfibers Carezza)
9. Reichenbach (fingering - AVFKW Slick or BMFA STR-M in "Vintage")
10. Sockhead (fingering - Madelinetosh Merino Light)
11. Moab (fingering - Wollmeise in "Lavender")
12. Pumpkin Pie (DK - Kangaroo Dyer orange)
13. Age of Brass & Steam (DK - Berroco Comfort DK)
14. Anne's Sweater (sport - Artfibers something)
15. 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)



I managed to sneak away to Stitches West on Friday. So, I will have an upcoming stash post....because of course I bought things. Seriously, did you think I could go to Stitches West and not buy anything? I also have other acquisitions that need documenting. So, that was on Friday. I found Stephanie (of Stephanie Crafts with Wool Paper Fabric) just after getting into the marketplace. I saw her in line but she was probably 20 people ahead of me and I didn't really want to yell at 10am across a bunch of other fiber enthusiasts, and there were probably five people named Stephanie between her and I. I figured I'd eventually run into her.....and I did, almost right away, funnily enough, at the Never Not Knitting/Barrett Wool Co. booth.....which was on the far side of the marketplace. Apparently her and I had the same idea of starting on the far side and working backwards.

Speaking of the Barrett Wool Co. booth, I had the most Midwestern thing happen in the Never Not Knitting/Barrett Wool Co. booth. So, if you're clueless, I'm originally from southern Wisconsin. I've known Susan B. Anderson (who is known for the Itty Bitty books but also, Susan Barrett Anderson, as in Barrett Wool Co.) on a very casual acquaintance level for several years....because I used to live near her, we were both members of the same knitting guild, we shopped at the same shops, etc. Anyway, her son recently married a lovely girl (based on Susan's expressions of her on her blog) named Molly. So, as I was talking to Susan and Stephanie, I mentioned that I grew up in Stoughton, which is a small town just south of Madison, Wisconsin. A little while later, as I was checking out, Molly asked if I had gone to school in Stoughton and I said I had. She asked if I had gone to River Bluff Middle School and I said it was built after I was out but I knew it. She said her dad used to work for the district. Of course, I also worked for the district and knew most of the teachers, either because I had them myself or had worked with them over the years. So, of course, I asked who her dad was.....and she told me his name and I said, "oh, I had him as my middle school speech teacher and he was my forensics coach."

Keep in mind that I am in San Francisco, California, having this conversation.

Things like this happen all the time. Midwesterners are known to be kind of chatterboxes; even the introverted ones are still chattery compared to "normal" standards (haha!). So the fact that it happened isn't all that surprising in some respects. But I still find it amusing that I'm 2500 miles away from home and I met one of my former teachers' daughters :) I also found out that she graduated from college with another knitting friend of mine (who also lives back home) and that a friend of mine from high school was the DJ at her wedding. So weird.

So, Stitches West happened. I only had Friday from marketplace opening (10am) until about 2:30pm or so to imbibe. I didn't take any photos. I had to gank this one from Stephanie's Instagram...



Also, she claims that I'm an enabler. Don't believe a word of it. All I did was logically explain things and then the next thing you know, she's yanking out the credit card. So not my fault. Not one bit.

There were other things that happened this week, however. With Monday being a holiday, we slept in a bit later than we normally would. And, of course, Stormageddon was in our bed.


It's a good thing he's cute because, seriously, I'm over the feet in my back in the middle of the night.

I also took Little Man to the movie theater for an afternoon showing of Peter Rabbit.


It was a really cute movie and I think he was glad to have some time with just me. We also may or may not have gone to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream after the movie. Maybe.

Tuesday was back to the normal routine. Stormageddon had his speech class, we went to the gym, all the usual things.




.....well, "normal" except for the binky in his mouth. I have one in my car, left from the days when Little Man had one. Stormageddon never took to the binky and up until a few months ago, I didn't even know this one was still in my car (yes, I know, the "ewwww" factor is strong...but it was well-hidden in a compartment in the back seat, nothing gross). So, every once in awhile, he'll stick the thing in his mouth (upside down).

On Wednesday afternoon, I took the boys to the library. While we were there, we found some of Little Man's artwork hanging on the wall in the children's area.


The school district uses a program called Art in Action, which is a company based down the road in Menlo Park so instead of a traditional art teacher, parent/family volunteers will come in and teach/help with the art lessons (they're called docents). It covers everything that would normally be covered in a traditional art classroom but it's all done on a volunteer basis. The local library has spots on their walls where they will post Art in Action works from the elementary schools and they must get changed out every couple of weeks because when we were there a few weeks ago, the projects were different. Each school has a "section" on the wall, labeled by school (which makes it super easy for parents to find their child's school). This time around, one of Little Man's was on the wall, as were a couple from his classmates. It appears that they pick 3-4 projects per grade/project and post them.

Thursday afternoon was a strange day. I went to pick up Little Man from school. I had heard all day it was supposed to rain and when I left the house (in my car) it was sunny with hardly any clouds in the sky. When I got to school, the clouds had started to roll in. I found something that needed to go into the PTA closet for the auction. I got the key, went to open the door, and found this:


The entire locking mechanism was missing. Apparently the district is really cracking down on the willy-nilly use of master keys. They have basically taken away all master keys from every school in the district. Only three people on a school campus have access: the principal, the office admin assistant, and the day custodian. If they are off-campus/gone, tough. Buuuut, the district was going to rekey some doors so we could have access for this weekend's activities. Of course, the time I wanted to get into the closet was the moment things were removed. Oops. And then it started to pour. And I don't mean a little...it poured. And it was cold. I was glad I took the car but it was still cold and wet. ::sigh::

And now we're back around to Friday. On Friday morning, before I left for Stitches West, Little Man's class had a performance at Friday Morning Gathering, where they did their Chinese New Year Lion Dance. Last year, they were all under the big lion. This year, they each made their own little lion. Little Man was first in line and he was a little scared (FYI, he did fine).


This was his dragon (they were all lined up outside the gym after they went through so parents were taking photos).

And then, of course, Stitches West happened. Little Man was picked up with one of his classmates and they went to her house. She has two guinea pigs, Hairy and Stinky.


Her mom sent me the photo. You can just see Hairy in the top of the photo. Little Man was holding Stinky. Apparently Stinky can get a little skittish when he's held...but he just snuggled right into Little Man's lap for pets and was calm as could be. 

Meanwhile, I was handling this:


Yes, my car was parked. Stormageddon was out cold. I let him sleep for probably a half-hour, while I unpacked my car and then repacked it with auction stuff. 


Since Friday prevening, I have been at Little Man's school day and night. We started at 5pm on Friday, would up several hours ahead of schedule, getting out around 9:45pm that night, continued at 9am yesterday morning and worked until about 10:11pm........when all the alarms started going off. 

We were *promised* that the alarms wouldn't go off until after 11pm, because they weren't supposed to go off until after 11pm.....keeping in mind that we've heard this same song and dance for years (quite possibly all twelve, since the start of the auction). And every year, the damn alarms go off. So, of course, this year was not a bit different. 

That was the kind of night we had last night :) 

And today, we're right back at it, 9am-11pm (which is really going to be 10:11pm because we know that isn't fixed). Part of me is in an internal panic about not having things done and part of me is joyful with absolute glee because we have so much happening :) 


With all that said, I hope you're having a lovely weekend! I hope I'll be back with all the things soon!

4 comments:

  1. Dang woman, you are going to need a vacation after this auction. Too bad Stitches West happened BEFORE the auction. Think how much more stash enhancement would have happened if it was after the auction!

    I love guinea pigs........they can be so sweet...........or nasty little creatures. Looks like Stinky is of the sweet variety.

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  2. Good luck with the auction! We have Stitches United coming up at the end of March...looking forward to it...

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  3. LOL! I'm STILL blaming you, girlfriend. You were so much fun to hang with. I'm so sorry it took me this long to finally hang with you. I don't know if I'll go next year unless...

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  4. What a busy week! Your Stitches West trip sounds productive and fun. And what a cute picture of you and Stefanie! Hope you had a fun time with the PTA activity over the weekend - alarms included. ;^)

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