Year the TENTH: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Wait, what just happened? (Update #40 and #41)

Sooooo......I absolutely missed last week and we will talk about why in a bit. For now, let's just get going on the usual and then we can talk about all the things!

 

FOs (Finished Objects)
1. Greenwood Fiberworks Dark BFL (Viktor): started 28 June 2020; finished 17 January 2021
2. Boo-Yah: started 26 January 2021; finished 27 January 2021
3. Minecraft Socks: started 12 August 2020; finished 6 March 2021
4. Alpaca (Viktor): started 17 January 2021; finished 17 March 2021
5. Dyeing Project: started 9 April, 2021; finished 9 April 2021
6. El Panal Cowl: started 5 April 2021; finished 29 April 2021
7. Rose City Rollers: started 7 March 2021; finished 1 June 2021
8. Unknown Wool (Viktor): started 26 June 2021; finished 27 June 2021
9. Abstract Fibers Merino Tencel (Viktor): started 27 June 2021; finished 29 June 2021
10. Frabjous Fibers Merino Top (Viktor): started 30 June 2021; finished 2 July 2021
11. Allons-y Fiber Arts Merino (Viktor): started 4 July 2021; finished 7 July 2021
12. Rose City Rollers: started 1 June 2021; finished 12 August 2021
13. Flax for Stormageddon: started 29 April 2021; finished 31 August 2021
14. Waiting for Winter Mittens: started 11 September 2021; finished 21 September 2021
15. Waiting for Winter Mittens for Stormageddon: started 25 September 2021; finished 28 September 2021

I finished up Stormageddon's mittens and he loves them, which is good because he's going to need them......

 

WIPs (Works-in-Progress) *these are carried over year after year, as needed*
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): started 13 April 2018
5. Granny Square Blanket: started 28 April 2018
6. UW Ski Hat: started 11 July 2018
7. Purl & Loop Weaving Project: started 28 August 2018
8. Herbivore: started 15 November 2018
9. Linen Stitch Scarf: started 2 June 2020
10. Vanilla Socks: started 9 August 2020
11. Sand Drift Blanket: started 17 January 2021
12. Rose City Zombies: started 13 August 2021
13. Sockhead: started 27 September 2021

Let's see...I have two weeks of updating to do here. Let's be honest, I did very very very little. I finished up Stormageddon's mittens (noted above) and that was about all the crafting I've done...maybe a round or two on the Sockhead. Maybe. Unlikely. But maybe. 

 

OMGLSGWTFBBQ

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. Paradiddle Socks: started 19 October 2017 - write pattern (iteration: here)

 

Design Ideas:
1. Christmas Stocking for Husband
2. Christmas Stocking for Little Man
3. Christmas Stocking for Stormageddon
4. Baby Blanket
5. Stomping Grounds Collection

 

Items for ME (Selfish Knitting FTW!):
1. Rose's Wrist Warmers (DK weight - using Aran instead; hand-dyed Malabrigo Twist?)
2. Perianth (fingering weight - Knitcircus Trampoline in The Whole Enchilada)
3. Stranger Things Hat (worsted - Malabrigo Rios in Archangel)
4. Autopilot (worsted weight - Sincere Sheep Cormo Worsted or htNEVELE Worsted in Reveire)
5. Fine Tune (fingering weight - uses minis so maybe a rainbow type one with the Canon Hand Dyes?)*
6. Flax (worsted weight - Misty Alpaca in the Harry Potter colors)
7. Park Slope (fingering weight - Mountain Fibers Crazyfoot in Shamrock)
8. Undone (bulky - maybe the reclaimed yarn from the Freeport Vest?)
9. Socks (fingering weight - Bob knows I have enough so I should use it - maybe with the CSM)
10. Age of Brass & Steam (Handspun purple/white barber pole)
11. Radiate Shawl (fingering weight - Artfibers Carezza maybe?)

Children's Items/Knitting for others
1. Honey Badger: (worsted weight - black & white acrylic I have banging around the stash)*
2. Maybe a Flax for Little Man...maybe...

 

Utilitarian/Household Items
1. Garter Chevron Blanket (KP Mighty Stitch - may need to get some more black or white)
2. Diagonal Knit Dishcloths (cotton of some sort)
3. Reusable Produce Bag (cotton or acrylic of some sort - worsted)
4. Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth (cotton or maybe bamboo, depending on the use)

Spinning:

1. Wonderland Dyeworks BFL

2. Mixed BFL

3. Allons-Y Fiber Arts Merino, Trilobal Nylon, Silk

4. Fiberlady.com 100% Bamboo 

Dyeing:

1. Sock Blanks (I think I have 5 left)

2. Random worsted/sport skeins (I have maybe 2-3 left)

3. Anything else I find along the way (I don't think there's anything else)

Other Fibery Endeavors:

1. Create project bag inventory

2. Update library inventory (on Ravelry) *in progress*

3. Update stash inventory (on Ravelry) *needs to be redone*

4. Stitch markers: kits and individual

5. Destash as necessary (it's always necessary)

6. Stash Fit

 

 

 

First and foremostly, I've still not done my "OMG WHAT DID I BUY" update because, quite frankly, I haven't had the time. 

 

Now, you may be wondering why I haven't had the time.....I mean, I'm a stay-at-home-mom with two kids in school during the day. What could I possibly be doing besides the usual housework stuff? 

 

Um........we bought a house in Wisconsin. 

 

Let me say that again because I'm quite sure it probably didn't actually register for many of you: WE BOUGHT A HOUSE BACK IN WISCONSIN AND THAT MEANS OUR CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE IS COMING TO A CLOSE. 

 

We are in the whirlwinds of packing because we have to stage our house while we live in it, which means like 95% of our stuff needs to be packed up. We have spent the last two weeks doing paperwork (thankfully electronic!), cleaning, purging, painting, packing, and, in my case, panicking. We have had inspectors to our house here in California and to the house in Wisconsin. We rented a dumpster and filled it this past week. I've made trips to Goodwill, I've posted things on our local Buy Nothing group on Facebook, I've dropped things off at the school, I've made countless trips to the U-Haul Store for boxes, trips to Home Depot for bubble wrap, we've rented a Rug Doctor carpet washer (twice!), We have cleaned, vacuumed, washed windows, cleaned up the yard, and asked for help with things. We hired cleaners to come in and do some of the harder cleaning tasks that I, frankly, just have not had time for (and for three ladies for three hours, it was only $250). 

It's been a hot hot mess around here. 

But, the end is nigh! The stager is coming tomorrow to finish staging the house, the packing is almost entirely finished (though our garage looks like a bomb went off because that's where everything is right now), the house is (mostly) clean, the carpets have been washed, painting has been finished......now we just need to get the house on the market (Wednesday) and have an open house (next weekend) and then we start dealing with offers. The good news is that our house will have no problem selling. The bad news is that we may wind up living in a hotel for a couple weeks if we can't do a rentback (where we basically rent our house from the new buyer for a month or so after closing). We don't close on the house in Wisconsin until 3 January 2022, which is a Monday (ew) but we're planning to be leaving California when Winter Break starts (or thereabouts), which is 18 December 2021. We have some time to drive in case the weather turns to crap (because winter), get another dumpster, get the remaining things packed up, and so on. 

So, bottom line, we've been busy. Like ridiculously busy. 

 

I spent a good portion of last weekend in tears because I was positive we weren't going to get everything done and Husband was going to be grumpy about it and the realtor was going to be grumpy about it and everyone was just going to be grumpy, so I was literally losing my damn mind. Buuuuuut, we got it taken care of. I'm no longer a hot steaming emotional mess, which is a good thing. 

 

Our house went from these: 

 

 

To these:

I did say that the garage looked like a bomb went off. I wasn't kidding. We've actually rearranged it a bit but it's still filled with boxes.

The kitchen is cleared out, as well, except for the box of food in the corner, which we can just take with us in the car.

I did say we've been busy...I wasn't kidding. The boys rooms are virtually empty, as well. Stormageddon's has his old "big boy" bed, which we thankfully saved, and his dresser. Little Man has his loft bed, his dressers, and my grandfather's rocking chair (five generations of my family have sat in that chair).

Among the chaos, the boys' school photo proofs arrived. We don't have the actual photos yet but we did get a preview. I wish Little Man would smile properly but he's self-conscious about one of his teeth that juts out (it's an inherited trait - my mom and I both had the same issue; mine was fixed with braces)....so he does the tight-lipped smile. ::sigh::

Memories, indeed. And speaking of memories.....I found this under Stormageddon's desk when we were getting ready to start packing up his room. Apparently he drew a dinosaur on his wall in pencil and then decided to draw a blue X through it in marker. The marker washed off (hooray for Crayola washable markers!) but the pencil was painted. I did take a photo, at least. He knows better. That's the really funny part. I pointed it out to him and he was like a deer in headlights and tried to tell me it wasn't him. Boy, I know your drawing style; that's yours.

Lastly, I held a snake this week. Usually it's Little Man that finds them in the yard. This time, it was one of my friends. I suspected it was nearby as I had seen one a day or two earlier in the yard not far away. She had come over to help me clear out the cucumbers and the hops and when we were pulling up the weed-blocker fabric, she found this little guy. Now, she's not scared of much. She's got a PhD in entomology (bugs). She has tarantulas bigger than my hand as pets (and yes, I do mean multiple). So, she just picked this guy up and handed him to me. It's just a common garden snake, harmless. I moved him to a safer area in the yard (away from where we were working). Next time, maybe I'll do it without the glove. Or not.

 

Anyway, I hope you've had a fantastic couple of weeks. I might be back to posting more regularly now that the bulk of our packing has happened but we'll see how things go. I think I'm going to go knit. Or sleep. Whichever.