Year Eight: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - THAT'S A WRAP!

Happy Sunday! Happy end of my EIGHTH year of my Self-Imposed Year of Projects! Today's post will probably contain photos that you've seen (mostly), much reflection, and a bit of this and that. 



We'll start off with my list of FOs for 2019. Compared to other years, it looks pretty.....well, anemic. Last year (Year Seven) I finished 23 projects, the year before that (Year Six) I finished 47 projects, and the year before that (Year Five) I finished 48 projects....so this year's eleven projects seems very small and unremarkable. And I'm not wrong. 

FO's (Finished Objects): 
1. Age of Brass & Steam: started 10 August 2018; finished 7 January 2019
2. Sockhead for Little Man: started 29 November 2018; finished 25 January 2019
3. Cowl for Miss Sylvie: started 18 January 2019; finished 9 April 2019
4. Vanilla Fingerless Mitts: started 16 May 2019; finished 24 June 2019
5. Dishcloth: started 9 July 2019; finished 16 July 2019
6. Clapotis: started 29 June 2018; frogged 16 July 2019
7. Dishcloth: started 16 July 2019; finished 26 August 2019
8. Large Sacrificial Goat: started 20 September 2019; finished 1 October 2019
9. Hufflepuff Hat: started 31 July 2019; finished 7 October 2019
10. Lederhosen Socken Hat: started 11 September 2019; finished 16 November 2019
11. Holiday Countdown Stockings: started 2 December 2019; finished 18 December 2019

I started the year with two finishes from items left from Year Seven's WIP list: The Age of Brass & Steam shawl and a Sockhead hat. I wear the shawl quite a bit (when I'm not dressed like a schlub). Little Man has worn the hat here and there but it hasn't really been all that cold, even this winter, so really, hats haven't been worn much. 

So far, this is the only finished photo of the shawl. And, let's be honest, it's not a good photo. No one said I was photogenic, okay?! Also, I was being goofy and this was for a thread in Ravelry (at the time)...I just haven't replaced it. I recently washed it so it smells good again. It didn't necessarily need blocking but it wasn't smelling as fresh. 

I haven't even photographed Little Man's Sockhead hat yet. It was yarn that I dyed that he claimed for his own (a skein of Knit Picks Bare of some sort...it had stelina in it). I was surprised that he claimed it as he's a known Hufflepuff and these colors were definitely Slytherin colors. What he really wanted was a striped scarf but he couldn't quite wrap his brain around why that wouldn't work with the yarn I dyed. As it stands, the hat has a spiral all the way up and it looks like stripes, so I guess that counts? 

After finishing up a couple of WIPs, I started with a few new projects. I made a cowl for Stormageddon's speech therapist (whom we miss very much). 

It's a design of my own so you won't find it anywhere in Ravelry (yet - working on it!). I used up a lovely skein of Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga I had bouncing around the stash for far too long. I think I used almost all 450 yds of the skein. It was gifted in April, after it had been washed and blocked. 

After that, I made a pair of fingerless mitts for my bestie in Wisconsin. Her desk is right by the door in her office and it opens to the outside. So, guess what happens in winter? She kind of off-handedly said I should make her a pair when I was home last year, thinking I wouldn't...but I did.

They aren't quite this bright in real life but the photo was done outside on our back deck. I'm pretty sure the photo was taken immediately after I finished them and wove in the ends, meaning they hadn't been washed or blocked yet. It's fine. You get the idea. I sent them to her for her birthday (early December) and I'm pretty sure she's been just leaving them at her desk to wear while she's at work. 

Once that all happened, I frogged the Clapotis shawl I had kind of been working on. I've been going back and forth on this project for years. It never appealed to me when it first came out (or, rather, when I first found it since it came out a couple of years before I started knitting) but since everyone had knit it, I thought I'd toss it in my Ravelry queue. It sat there for quite awhile (like several years) before I deleted it. Then we moved to California in 2012 and I saw a friend's knitted up version and I loved it. So, it was re-added to my queue....where it, again, sat for a few years. Then last year, a few of us in the monthly LSG threads in Ravelry decided to do a Clap-a-long (using the original Clapotis or any of the versions - I think there's a hat and a crochet version but I might be wrong)....so I finally started it. And it wasn't terribly difficult or anything but I just didn't like it. So, I frogged it. I don't know that I'm ever going to make it, honestly. I'm okay with that. I don't need to make what everyone has made. I need to do my thing and call it good. 

In betwixt all that, I made a couple of dishcloths. I never did photograph them. I came to the realization that I needed to throw out a couple of my dishcloths because they had come to the end of their useful life (they were crunchy - ew) but that meant that I'd need to make new ones to replace them. Luckily, I had a bunch of leftover cotton bits from various other dishcloth projects so I was able to make a couple of dishcloths. One of them wound up being a solid color (lime green) and the other has stripes because I was trying to use up some smaller bits. Both turned out just fine and are both in my regular rotation of kitchen dishcloths. I suppose I could photograph them now but, really, why bother?

After all that, Husband dropped a bombshell on me: could I possibly make another goat before October 1st, when the senior vice president of his division will be over for dinner? Um, sure...let me make a goat in 11 days. I wish I were kidding. I was literally sewing it up the day they came over for dinner.

He was definitely larger than the other ones I made but he was equally adorable and quirky. I'm pretty sure he is well-loved. Until said SVP left the company, this goat sat on his desk. I imagine it will wind up at his desk again when he decides to get a job. For now, it's at his home, awaiting it's next assignment.

It turns out I have a disgusting amount of yellow and black acrylic yarn in my stash. This has happened for a few reasons. Both Little Man and I are proud Hufflepuffs. In addition to that, I bought some yarn to make a Pikachu hat a few years ago and figured I'd make a few more (which haven't come to fruition yet). Oh, and there were the little goats, one of which was yellow and black.....so, I have a supply of yellow and black yarn. I decided to try my hand at colorwork and I made a Hufflepuff hat for Little Man (though I will occasionally steal it). 

Clearly this is when it was still a WIP but it is finished and the ends have been woven in and it's been washed (and even worn!). Some of my floats are a little tight but it fits both Little Man and I and doesn't look too terrible so I call it a win. I have plenty of yarn so I may make another one in the "reverse" colors for Stormageddon, who also requested one. We'll see.

The Lederhosen Socken hat was never supposed to be. Husband asked if I would make his Lederhosen Socken for the annual Halloween party. Sure. How hard can that be? Use Aran weight yarn, big needles, and go.......except it didn't work out that way. I measured Husband properly, did a swatch (yes, I did do an actual swatch), tried it on him as I went along....but I was basically knitting regular socks on fat needles by that point. The number of stitches required meant that I was making him really long socks. But, "the row gauge is thicker," you cry! And it's true...but when you need to knit approximately 20" from knee to ankle, well, let's just say that it's still knitting really long socks. In the end, it didn't happen. I wound up turning what I did have into a hat. It's not the best hat but it's warm and soft, which works for me. 

My last finished objects of the year have no proper photographs. I made five of these little Holiday Countdown Stockings. Two were white (Cascade 220 leftovers from a sweater I made Little Man a few years ago), one was navy blue (Cascade 220 leftovers, also from the same sweater), and two were variegated (Cascade 220 leftovers from the fingerless mitts above). I just dropped the ball on photographing them before they were gifted. I'll have to poke the moms and see if I can get some photographs. They're really cute and they hold a mini boozeamahol bottle, which is what I was going for when I made them.

So, that rounds out my dismal list of finished objects for 2019

WIPs (Works-in-Progress) (These are carried over year to year)
1. Wink: started 5 January 2015
2. Shetland Neck Wool (support spindle): started 8 September 2017
3. Returning: started 14 January 2018
4. Faerie Mountain Fibers Crazy Batt (EEW Mini Spinner): started 13 April 2018
5. Granny Square Blanket: started 28 April 201

6. University of Wisconsin Ski Hat: started 28 July 2018 

7. Abracadabra Socks: started 7 August 2018

8. Purl & Loop Weaving Project: started 28 August 2018

9. Campfire Socks: started 17 October 2018

10. Herbivore: started 15 November 2018
11. Ewetopia Stripey Socks: started 15 November 2018
12. Multi-Colored Merino Top (Viktor): stared 16 January 2019

13. Prototype Something Something Raindrops: started 11 April 2019
14. Tiny Turtle: started 7 November 2019

My WIP list is a bit....longer. I guess that's the right word. I have a couple of projects that have been carried over quite a few projects that have been carried over from 2018 (or before). I'm not sure what that says about me. 

My longest-running WIP is, of course, my Wink sweater, which I started almost five years ago. I don't know what I was thinking, starting that project so soon after Stormageddon was born. I suppose that's why it's still a WIP after almost five years. Now that the boys are older and able to let me sit and knit without too much bumble, I might just have to get back to this one. At last check, I had just split for the armholes. On a top-down, raglan sweater. Yeah, I'm that person. ::sigh:: 

I'm a bit further along than this photo shows. As I've said, I'm past the armholes. I've just been lax in photographing things lately. 

My next longest-running WIP is a spinning project. I picked up a couple of support spindles a couple of years ago at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool festival and I started spinning some shetland neck wool on one of them. I put it down because, at the time, I couldn't spin without Stormageddon trying to get into my business (he was only 3 at the time). I'm still not sold on spindles but I like these better than my drop spindles. Someday, I'll get back around to this. I don't have photos of this. I should remedy that.

Next up is my Returning Shawl, which has been on the needles for almost two years now. I stopped because I was wafting about the other two colors I wanted to use. I had picked out the first contrast color but the second was giving me issue. After I finally decided on the second contrast color and put them all together, I decided that I wanted to just make it a solid color. So, now that that decision has been made, I really should get back to it, yeah?

This is back when it was itty-bitty. It's much larger now but, again, lax on photographs. 

Now we visit a different spinning project. I got an Electric Eel Wheel Mini spinner through their Kickstarter (the original mini, not the new mini2) and my first project (and, so far, only project) was a crazy batt from Faerie Mountain Fibers (which I picked up in a destash). I've not touched this in awhile. I need an electrical outlet to work on it, which is fine, but I also need a solid base for the wheel to sit on and attach to. After learning some of the idiosyncrasies of this little wheel, I've found that I have to rubberband it to a heavy book to keep it from walking across whatever surface it's sitting on. It's a cute little wheel and I really should bring it out and work on the batt. I have seven little bobbins to use/fill at a time. I figure that I'll most likely ply on my Majacraft Pioneer, however. I feel like that would work better. We'll see how things progress, though. 

My only crochet project in my WIP list is a granny square blanket. I had originally set a goal to make two squares a month but, let's be honest, that just didn't happen. So, any progress is still good progress. I've finished maybe fourteen squares and they're about 10"x10" (maybe a little bigger once blocked). The goal is to have at least forty squares in the end (making an 80"x50" blanket, roughly, I hope). This is one of those long-term projects that is done in small parts, which works well for me. I feel like I'm making measurable progress when I finish a square. 

Clearly this photo shows only the first finished five squares. I have at least double, maybe triple this by now. I can even tell you the order in which they were knit. The on on top was knit first, then the lower right, then the lower left, then the top right, then the top left. To be fair, I did need to go add a round to the one on top so when I finished the fifth one, I added the round to the first (to match the colors). 

I started my University of Wisconsin Ski Hat before I knew how to do two-color knitting properly. I'd never done it so I came to a stopping point when the colorwork started. I also needed to learn how to catch long floats. I also needed that skill for the Hufflepuff Hat listed in the FO section above. But, I took a class with Julia Farwell-Clay at Vogue Knitting Live in San Francisco in 2018, which helped. My floats on this hat don't appear to be too tight, which is good...but we'll see once I finish said project. It's slow-going because the chart is teeny-tiny. I should just enlarge it and color-code it. Also, no photos. Lazy.

It's amazing that it took until my seventh WIP to come to a sock project. I usually have socks going. Multiple pairs. My Abracadabra Socks are the first pair of socks in my WIP list. they are so-named because that is the Felici colorway I'm using. I'm also using some Loops & Thread Woolike for the contrast color (cuffs, heels, and toes). I don't remember if I'm on the first or second sock. I have a feeling that I'm on the first sock but I'm on the foot. So, I'm almost halfway finished with these. They're not difficult...I just need to work on them. Now that holidayish knitting is done, I may stick these into the regular rotation for purse/car/travel knitting. 

I've not photographed this one recently either. This was taken when I was traveling to Wisconsin in 2018, at the airport. Or maybe when we were heading to Seattle. I don't remember. Regardless, I'm past this point.

After all this, we get to a weaving project. Whaaaaat?! At Stitches West, I picked up a little Purl & Loop weaving loom, coaster size. I tried doing it with some Cascade 220 and found that (1) it was too thick and (2) I didn't know squat about what I was doing. This time around, I've been much more mindful about my tension and I'm also using sock yarn. Buuuut, I've not touched it for awhile. I had goals to make piles of woven coasters for all the people but here we are....I don't even have a photo of it. Maybe I should make that a goal for 2020?

Next up are another pair of socks! I've been working on the Campfire Socks for awhile. I'm not finished with the first sock, which is surprising as it's DK weight, but I'm also doing it on DPNs, which is not how I normally do socks. 

This is the only photo I have. I really do like the yarn and the project. I had hoped these would go quicker...of course, they would go more quickly if I, you know, actually worked on them. But who has time for that nonsense?! These are also not really good for travel as they're on DPNs, not that I've not taken them places but the DPNs make things awkward sometimes.

And now it's time for another shawl. I started the Herbivore Shawl when I was home in Wisconsin last year. I got through the set-up section and then quit in favor of other projects. When I picked it up in November, I remembered why it was in time-out. I had the incorrect number of stitches. Since I was only a few rows in, I frogged it and started over. I'm much further along but, alas, no photo. I think what inspired me to pick it back up was when I saw Stephen West (no relation) at A Verb for Keeping Warm a few months ago, pimping his new book. This was one of the "base shawls" that he used to create new ones and I really liked it. So, I picked it back up. It's a fun knit, but I need sharper needles (all those ptbls are killing me with my blunt needles!). 

Oh look, we're back to socks again. My Ewetopia Stripey Socks are coming along. I've actually finished the first one and I'm working down the foot of the second one. These may wind up being my first FO of 2020 but probably not until February, at least, maybe my second FO. I'm using Addi FlexiFlips to knit these and while I'm not totally sold on them, they're more forgiving than DPNs while out in public. I do need to find a storage solution for them in WIP form, however. There have been a couple of times I've had to save a couple stitches that have fallen off the end. After the stockings in the FO section were finished, I picked these back up as they're fairly straightforward for travel knitting.....just that issue with in-bag storage in WIP form. And no photos. But, if you're a sports fan and want an idea of the colors, I was knitting on these while waiting for a flight to Seattle and someone asked if we were Seahawks fans (NFL team)...so, I guess they're in Seahawks colors?

Thus ends all projects started before this year. But I still have a couple projects going! I started spinning some merino top in January. I've not done a lot of spinning, to be honest. I was going to try for TdF but it just didn't happen. I think I did spin on it during TdF but that was probably the last time I touched it. It's a lovely denim blue I've had banging around my stash since....2012. Oops. I have a lot of fiber from around then. It was soon after I got my wheel so I was still in the "new, shiny fiber" stage and bought all the things. I anticipate this will be finished sometime in 2020, if only for TdF. 

Next up is a design project. I had made the cowl for Stormageddon's speech therapist in the FO section above. It was a long cowl. I decided I should make a shorter one, that you couldn't wrap around your neck. So, I was working on it, I was maybe 1/3 finished...and then I discovered that I was incapable of reading my own damn pattern. I tried to tink back to fix it, dropped a bunch of stitches.....and frogged it. I started over, the cast on taking forever....and I've finally started getting somewhere with it (thanks to watching Pirates of the Caribbean this past Friday). If you look at the FO above, you'll get the idea of what it's going to look like. I don't anticipate it being as wide as the original, as it's not meant to be looped around your neck. We'll see. 

My last WIP was meant to be a gift for a friend that was visiting in November. But, I wound up having to frog when I popped a stitch during a K2tog section. The yarn didn't break or anything but one of the stitches wasn't caught in the K2tog so it dropped like a bad habit. I tried to fix it and hook it back up but it wasn't having it. So, I ripped it out. I think I restarted it....I should look. No photos because, well, nothing to show. 


And thus ends my WIPs and FOs of 2019. The ones that actually went somewhere...I also had a section of Design WIPs, but aside from the cowl that isn't even listed, I didn't do much with these. I'll have to decide how I want to proceed for 2020.

Design WIPs  (New section, specifically for design WIPs):
1. Messed Up Moss: started March 2009 - write pattern as PDF (iterations: first, second)
2. Susan's Hat: started 31 August 2010 - need new prototypes & write the pattern (iterations: first, second, third, mini, fifth, sixth)
3. Little Man's Baby Blanket: started July 2010 - need new prototype & write pattern (iteration: here)
4. Chunky Scarf: started 6 October 2012 - need new prototype & write pattern (iteration: here)
5. Pacific Waves Hat: started 9 March 2016 - need new prototype & write the pattern (iterations: first, second, third)
6. Fall in San Francisco: started 18 September 2016 - need new prototype & write pattern (iterations: first, second)
7. Stomping Grounds Collection: started 26 February 2017 - need prototypes & write patterns 
8. Unnamed Hat Design: started 14 August 2017 - need various weight yarn prototypes & write pattern (iterations: first, second)
9. Rastarmulke: started 20 November 2017 - write pattern (iterations: first, second)
10. Paradiddle Socks: started 19 October 2017 - write pattern (iteration: here)


As for the things I didn't get to......

OMGLSGWTFBBQ Lists

Challenges (this is new for 2019)

1. Knit 1 granny square a month (average) until I'm out of yarn (for the Granny Square Blanket in my WIP list above)
2. Submit and/or publish 2 designs this year. 

Children's Items

1. Oliver for Stormageddon (worsted weight - Stunning String Studio from Stitches West 2018)

2. Minecraft Socks for Little Man (fingering weight - Tosh Sock in Plaid Blanket?)

3. Mittens for Stormageddon (probably worsted weight of some sort)
4. Tardis Beanie (worsted weight - Cascade Yarns Venezia in Blue Velvet & Grey)

Items for Me (Selfish Knitting FTW!)

1. Fornicating Deer Hat / Basic Lined Hat (worsted weight - Barrett Wool Co. Worsted Weight in Huron & Stationery from Stitches West 2018)

2. Brickless (worsted weight - Miss Babs Yowza in Celebration)

3. Nightlock (fingering weight - Sun Valley Fibers Merino/Nylon Fingering in Onyx & Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock in May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor)

4. Honey Badger (fingering weight - one of the BMFA STR that I got from Carrie)

5. Park Slope (fingering weight - Mountain Fibers Crazyfoot in Shamrock)

6. Flax (worsted weight - Misty Alpaca in the Harry Potter colors)

7. Xandu Snowflake Cowl (as a hat; fingering weight - G. Sheller Merino/Silk Fingering in Natural & YOTH Little Brother in Caviar)

8. Pop Blanket (worsted weight - box of Knit Picks...may need to order more)

9. Tombreck (Aran weight - hand-dyed Malabrigo Twist or handspun Purple BFL)

10. Stormont (worsted weight - MadTosh 80/10/10 in Molly Ringwald)

11. Rose's Wrist Warmers (DK weight - using Aran instead; hand-dyed Malabrigo Twist?)
12. Northeasterly (Sock or DK weight - but really, I can use whatever as long as I have enough)* 

Designs

1. Stormageddon's Baby Blanket - need prototype & write pattern

2. Cabled pullover (grey look-alike sweater - Old Navy hooded sweater with cable) - need sketch, grading, swatch, prototype, & write pattern

3. Christmas stocking for Little Man - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)

4. Christmas stocking for Stormageddon - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)
5. Christmas stocking for Husband - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)

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. Sock Blanks (9) from Vice Yarns

2. Anything else I find in the stash...or pick up along the way....

Other Fibery Endeavors
1. Stitch markers and/or stitch marker kits
2. Vintage patterns into Rav database & my Rav Library

3. Update inventory of loose patterns & books (spreadsheet & Rav Library)

4. Update inventory of PDF patterns (Rav Library)

5. Update yarn inventory (make sure it's up-to-date)/destash
6. Inventory project bags (Erin Lane, I'm looking at you)

7. Get the Etsy Shop up and running with all the things! Or something. Maybe not an Etsy shop...

Thus ends 2019. I shan't talk about how the past week has been because there's not much to say. The boys are on break, Husband is off work, and I'm not even sure what day it is right now. The boys got far too many presents, the house is looking mostly back to normal (we took down the tree yesterday and put all the decorations away)......and that's about it. I don't even think I've taken any photos. I should remedy that. 




I hope you've had a lovely 2019 and I can't wait to see what you're all planning on for 2020.