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

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Year SEVEN: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Update #17

Hello and happy last Sunday in April :)


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
7. Garter Stitch Baby Blanket: started 6 July 2017; finished 3 April 2018
8. Pattern submission: started 19 March 2018; finished 3 April 2018
9. Tiny Narwhal: started 5 April 2018; finished 6 April 2018
10. Tiny Narwhal: started 5 April 2018; finished 6 April 2018




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. Unnamed Hat Design: started 14 August 2017
6. Shetland Neck Wool (support spindle): started 8 September 2017
7. Paradiddle Prototype: started 19 October 2017
8. Returning: started 14 January 2018
9. Frankensocks: started 1 March 2018
10. Faerie Mountain Fibers Crazy Batt (EEW Mini Spinner): started 13 April 2018
11. Hat for Little Man: started 19 April 2018
12. Granny Square Blanket (1): started 28 April 2018

I actually did some things this week....not a lot of things....but things, nonetheless.

Little Man's hat is going to be striped. I also hope that it fits him. I tried the brim around my head and it fit fine but that was just the ribbing and it's looking small to me so I'm hoping. I pulled out a partial ball of Anzula For Better or Worsted in Hippo, which is a variegated blueish grey. The hat is kind of reminding me of Ravenclaw colors. So, it might be renamed his Ravenclaw hat....as long as it fits him.

In addition to that, I did some spinning this week. Maker Faire was on Friday at Little Man's school and I pulled out the drop spindles. I ordered two dozen drop spindle "seconds" from Fiber Artist Supply Co., LLC about a week and a half ago. Shipping for the spindles was about $20 but if I added another dozen, it jumped up to $60....but two dozen was plenty. And I'm still looking for what makes them "seconds." Regardless, it means I spent some time spinning this week. Now, granted, none of what I spun is for any sort of production yarn......except what little I did with my support spindle and the shetland neck wool that I got at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool. But I didn't do a lot of that. I pulled out some unknown wool from a sheep named "MaryAnn" that I've had for probably six years now. It wasn't the greatest fiber to work with but that may also be because I was working on the drop spindles. I actually modified it for the kids so they didn't have to drop. If they could spin it with one hand and do the fiber part in the other hand, it seemed to work better. It's kind of a modified park & draft method in that I had the kids (and occasional adult) sitting down. I also needed more hands as some of the younger ones did the spinning and I did the drafting...which didn't work out so well when you had more than three kids trying it. But, all was well in the end.

I'm actually tempted to pull down Viktor this week but I need to clean my corner so I can get to him first. And I need to get him some TLC before I take him spinning at the winery in a couple weeks. He's looking a little neglected...

And let's not forget my new project....see, down below in my OMGLSGWTFBBQ lists, I had a Granny Square Blanket listed under Random Things....and I picked up a couple of Caron Big Cakes (they're 603 yds each) and decided it was time to learn to make a granny square, at the very least. I finished up my first one and started my second. I'm making them 10x10 (so they have 10 little holes and 10 bundles of dc per side).


This is not the first finished square. This is the first square in progress. It started out with a darker blue center, then a very light sky blue, and then the border edge ended up being yellow. My second square started out with yellow. We'll see what happens.


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)

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)



Because I was digging in my yarn closet for Maker Faire this week, I also did some rearranging in my yarn closet, got some of my loose skeins into bins, and reminded myself that I really need to take a look at my yarn and have a Come to Jeebus talk with it. I know it's almost blasphemous for a Yarn Addict to say that they have too much yarn......but I really do have too much yarn. And some of it I'm just not in love with anymore and it should make someone else much happier. But that means taking a lot of time to go through each and every bin, pull out skeins of yarn, and let them speak to me. Or something. Aside from that, I did some much-needed cleaning in the yarn closet on Thursday, Friday, and yesterday. Of course, by the time yesterday rolled around, I was very much over being in there. I have 18 bins in that closet, 17 of which are filled with yarn and/or fiber...the last bin has project bags, sock blockers, and other accoutrements. And then there are the boxes, and mini-bins that also have yarn....and the tote bags with yarn.....and the tote bags with undyed yarn.....and the tote bag with sweaters to unravel.....and the big plastic bedding bag with fiber and yarn......and a few other non-fibery things that live in that closet as well. It's kind of a big deal and overwhelming. Kind of. I made a map so I know where the bins are, in case I can't see their label. That's helpful when I'm searching for things.

Did I mention I was a Yarn Addict?

Other than Maker Faire on Friday, there wasn't much else going on. I made proper Bavarian pretzels last Sunday (and I'm not sure why my photo keeps insisting on being upside down...I've fixed it at least twice now and it just keeps reverting back ::sigh::):


I use Alton Brown's recipe for Soft Pretzels but instead of baking soda, we use actual lye. You can get it on Amazon for $12. Thom, who spent a significant amount of time in Switzerland (his parents are from there), tells me they're perfect. We will see if his girlfriend agrees when she comes to visit in June (she lives in Zurich).

Monday morning, we found these two ducks wandering in our yard.




We're pretty sure they have a nest nearby because we've seen them a couple times across the street over the last week or so and we can hear them. It probably means there are also babies involved because they are a male and female mallard and they travel together. We'll probably know soon enough. They came up very close to the boys and I as we were getting ready to head out to take Little Man to school. By the end of the morning, however, this had happened:




Stormageddon fell asleep in the car with one of his new books from the school book fair. It's a good thing he's cute because he was kind of a pain in the butt to get to and from places on Monday. He didn't want to leave speech therapy. I had to heft him up over my shoulder to get him to the car. He didn't want to leave Office Depot. I had to heft him up over my shoulder to get him to the car. He didn't want to leave the book fair. I had to heft him up over my shoulder to get him to the car. Seeing a pattern here?

I guess we shouldn't be surprised that by Wednesday morning, I was having immense difficulty walking because my back was so angry. Wednesday was not a fun day for me. Thankfully, I was fine by Thursday.

Those of you that follow me on Instagram, you've already seen this photo. I often have to tell my boys, "let me pee in peace!" because they keep coming into the bathroom while I'm in there, trying to have a pee. If I don't actually lock them out, both of them come in probably five times apiece, in the span of five minutes. I took this photo on Thursday afternoon. I was working on something at the counter in the kitchen. I could hear Stormageddon behind me, knocking on the bathroom door.

"Brother, let me in!" he kept saying. It was apparent that Little Man had locked him out of the bathroom.


Little Man's voice from behind the bathroom door, "Let. Me. Pee. In. PEACE!"

Apparently they do actually listen to me. They just don't follow directions. ::sigh:: I suppose things could be worse. They could just not listen at all. I mean, not following directions is kind of the same thing as not listening in the first place but at least I know their ears work.

Friday was the Maker Faire, as I mentioned above. I didn't have quite as many kids this year as I did last year but there were several that stayed for quite awhile. The actual event was 2.5 hours and I had one girl that stayed with me the entire first hour, and another that stuck with me for at least the last 45 minutes or so. Most of the kids wanted to try it out for a few minutes and the one that stayed for the last 45 minutes or so was asking where she could get her hands on a spindle and some wool to spin. I know her mom fairly well so if she's really interested, I'd be willing to work with her. I might have to tell her mom that. It was a tiring event, though, and I truly need at least six more hands. I think I need to be an octopus for this event. But the kids had fun. Little Man came with me. He built a Tie Fighter out of some laser-carved wood, shot off a rocket outside, made some slime, made a button, and visited the Lego building station. Well, he visited all the stations but those were the ones that made a lasting impression on him.

Anyway, I hope you've all had a lovely week and weekend :)

3 comments:

  1. Love that you are drop spindling with students. Such a great project. I also love the name of your found fleece ' MaryAnn' since it is my name too!

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  2. You're crocheting!!! And those Bavarian Pretzels looks amazing - even upside down.

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  3. I love how you had a spinning wool fan! I have a neglected drop spindle; I should take lessons from you. Too cute. I love that brother-let-me-in pic. Too funny; I think my youngest used to follow me around the apt, even when I went to pee. The pretzels look good! XO

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