Fourth Annual Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Tuesday

Day Two (Tuesday April 23rd): A Mascot Project.

Your task today is to either think of or research a project that embodies that house/animal. It could be a knitting or crochet pattern – either of the animal itself or something that makes you think of the qualities of that house. Alternatively it could be a type or color of yarn, or a single button. Whatever you choose, decide upon a project and blog about how and why it relates to your house/creature. You do not have to make this project! It is simply an exercise in blogging about how you come to decide upon what projects to make. Try and blog about the journey which inspiration and investigating patterns, yarns, stitches, (etc) can often guide you through. You may wish to make a collage or 'mood board' to present several ideas, or even sketch out your own design.


Happy Tuesday! According to the topic, I'm supposed to think of or research a project that embodies my house (in case you've forgotten: House of Bees). As I'm a knitter, we'll stick to knitting patterns...I think.

Let's start off by looking at my original Self-Imposed Year of Projects lists for this year (actual post from January 6, 2013 can be found here).

Works-in-Progress (WIPs)

1. Icarus Shawl: started March 15, 2010
2. Mama's Vanilla Socks (round 2): started June 29, 2012
3. Eat Your Monkey Socks: started November 29, 2012
4. There's probably something I started while we've been traveling...
* These were carried over from my First Self-Imposed Year of Projects

Children's Items 

1. "Little 16" Newborn Socks
2. Garter Stripe Baby Socks
3. Baby Surprise Jacket
4. Toddler Socks
5. Alvin Sweater
6. A New Sock Monkey
7. Vested Baby Boy
8. Stig (need to purchase)
9. Greyson (need to purchase)

Items for Me (Selfish Knitting FTW!)

1. Rose's Wrist Warmers
2. Viking Bag
3. Campfire Socks
4. Red Dwarf Socks
5. Vancouver Fog Fingerless Mitts
6. Freeport Vest
7. Zombie ViXen Fingerless Mitts
8. Ardys

Household Items

1. Halloween Creepy Cloths (1) (need to purchase)
2. Halloween Creepy Cloths (2) (need to purchase)
3. Assorted Harry Potter Cloths
4. Assorted Doctor Who Cloths
5. Grrlfriend Market Bag
6. Petal Dishcloth

Designs (which may or may not be sooper seekrit - obviously the sooper seekrit ones aren't listed)
1. Little Man's Baby Blanket
2. Susan's Hat (4 versions)
3. Assorted dishcloths (set of 12?)
4. Traveling Vines Scarf
5. Traveling Vines Socks (baby for sure, maybe adult-sized as well)
6. Pinwheel Market Bag
7. Anything else that comes along (I have a notebook or five somewhere with potential designs)


As you can see, my list is not only long (and probably too ambitious), it also has items from all over the place, organized into categories. How did I pick these items for this year's list? A couple were carry-overs from last year's list (the original list, from January 8, 2012, can be found here) but most everything has been in my Ravelry Queue for.....well, awhile. I took a long look at my queue along with how long projects actually take me (based on last year's Self-Imposed Year of Projects list and other FOs I had), what kind of knitting time I seem to have, and whether I'd have to learn something new...and I picked things that piqued my interest. I also have projects that are time consuming and projects that only take a couple hours. I've discovered that sometimes I just need a quick project so I can have my FO High. I also need distraction when I've got endless miles of stockinette or garter stitch in said time consuming projects. In case you can't tell, I'm not monogamous with my knitting. I usually have at least three WIPs on the needles, though I've had as many as eight on the needles at a time (and that usually takes up at least two project bags, depending on the size of said WIPs). Some would say I have a bit of knitting ADHD.

Anyway, my lists are just basic ideas. I may wind up adding projects or deleting projects, designing new things, or test knitting items for someone else. Oh, and let's not forget that I've been pondering a granny square afghan. Forget the fact that I don't know squat about crochet (I know a few basic stitches), how to read crochet patterns, or what I'm going to do with a granny square blanket (besides use it - I know I'll do that).

I think the fact that I don't just make shawls or socks of hats or dishcloths coupled with the fact that I cannot just work on one project at a time clearly shows that I'm a bit flighty with my knitting and, thus, am like a busy little bee :)

As I'm relatively close to finishing a couple projects (by my standards), my mind has been wandering toward what to make next. I have a friend from high school that is having a baby in September and I'm thinking about making her a couple things...but I'm torn between a baby blanket or a Baby Surprise Jacket or some baby wash cloths (which, honestly, are the best kind to have) or baby socks or.........do I just buy her diapers? I'll probably wind up making a bunch of wash cloths and socks because I know I can get those done in the time allotted. But, I'm also thinking about something from my designs (cleaning up the math, actually writing down what I did, getting it tested and properly published). Or small items for swaps (dishcloths work really well for swaps). Or something (else) for Little Man...

See? Flighty.