Y5: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Update #6

Hello and happy Sunday! Around here, there's a buttload of touristy types in town for something called the Superb Owl. Apparently it's this big LARP (live action role playing) event in Santa Clara...something about Quidditch that isn't played on broomsticks and the people playing have to wear all this protective gear and they still end up with all sorts of injuries and maladies and such, most of which don't get better over time. I don't know. It all sounds pretty stupid to me. Quidditch that isn't played on broomsticks? Um, no. Thanks, but just...no. But what it means is that the City is filled with people that don't know their way around, are throwing around money like it's candy (seriously, there are people in the area that have rented out their house, AirBnB style, for $10K this week), and are screwing up traffic (which is plenty screwed up to begin with). The people that actually live here are practically sheltering in place until it's all over.

But, we're not here to talk about a LARP event. We're here because it's Sunday and that means it's time for a Self-Imposed Year of Projects update :) So, let's get going!


FOs (Finished Objects)
1. Fire Socks: started April 15, 2015; finished January 6, 2016
2. Nottingham for Stormageddon: started January 12, 2016; finished January 14, 2016
3. Design proposal for Fire Socks: started January 13, 2016; finished January 18, 2016
4. Purple merino/silk spinning (singles): started toward the end of Tour de Fleece (July 4-26, 2015); finished January 29, 2016
5. Nottingham for Little Man: started January 17, 2016; finished February 1, 2016
6. Swirl Hat: started December 16. 2015; finished February 4, 2016

Oh, hey would you look ta that?! Two finished projects this week! I finished up the Nottingham Hat for Little Man early this week. As predicted, he wouldn't let me wash it before wearing it. Currently, it is missing somewhere in either the house or my car. I suspect my car, actually, but I haven't really looked yet. I did the FO Friday post this past Friday.

The second project is the newborn sized Swirl Hat. I haven't washed it or anything and it's not like I have a model I can work with anymore. So, it's currently hanging out in the bag. I finished it late on Thursday evening, which is part of the reason I haven't done the FO Friday post for it...you know, and lack of a proper model.

So, that's two off the needles :)


WIPs (Works-In-Progress) - carried over year-to-year
1. Dragon's Egg Socks: started September 2, 2013
2. Snape's Stockings: started August 20, 2014
3. Wink: started January 5, 2015
4. Vanilla Latte Socks: started November 19, 2015
5. Ice Socks: started January 7, 2016
6. Swatch for Marly Bird class at Stitches West: started January 8, 2016 (no project page)
7. Fire Socks Pattern: started February 6, 2016

With two projects off the needles.......well, let's be honest. The only other project(s) to see the light of day were my Vanilla Latte Socks and my swatch. Oh, and I may have worked a round or two on my Dragon's Egg Socks. I don't remember. Babybrain. Or because I'm tired. Whatever. I know I worked on the two, and maybe the third.

You'd think that with the two finishes and only six non-writing projects going right now, I'd be itching to start something new. And, honestly, I do have something I want to start...but I feel like I need to finish up at least two more projects. Given that my swatch is due in two weeks, I'll probably finish that first. And the socks....except the Ice Socks, are all second socks. So, I should just sit and work on them and knock something out and move on with my life. Or something.

But, I've also started writing the pattern for my Fire Socks. It's time...and it was helpful that I got a nifty little trinket in my Knitcircus Club shipment yesterday. It's a ruler designed by Ann Budd and it has the ruler on one side (in inches) but it's also a clear ruler and it has a stitches-per-inch printed on it. So, you hold your ruler up to your knitting and line up your stitches to figure out how many stitches you get to the inch. It's extremely helpful for pattern writing because, honestly, I don't always measure very well and this allows me to have a much better rough estimate. For example, my Fire Socks are lining up around 7.5 sts/1", which would give me 30 sts/4", which I can then use to figure out the other sizes, based on my knitting :) So, you know, LOVE IT! It has 4-9 sts/inch, including half-stitches. It's not perfect but it's better than me trying to figure it out and doing it all RONG!


In my "OMG CRAZY LADY WTFLSGBBQ" lists....

Children's Items
1. George's Vest (for Stormageddon - probably the largest size; fingering in solid or semi-solid)
2. House Hat (one each for Stormageddon and Little Man - worsted, two contrasting colors)
3. Mirkwood (for Stormageddon - bulky; solid or semi-solid)
4. Smaug (for Little Man - worsted; solid or semi-solid)
5. Arthur the Alien (for Little Man - worsted; any colors)
6. Holiday Countdown Stockings (for the family - Aran/worsted; four colors)
7. Creeper Gonna Creep (for Little Man - DK; green because Creeper)

Items for ME (selfish knitting, FTW!!)
1. Vanillaish Socks (using one of my Harry Potter Yarns)
2. Paradiddle Socks (using a solid or semi-solid sock yarn)
3. Hermione Hearts Ron (sport weight; solid or semi-solid)
4. Hermione Hearts Ron Fingerless Mitts (sport weight; solid or semi-solid)
5. Classic Silk Mayfaire Camisole (Miss Babs from Stitches Midwest)
6. Stormont (worsted; solid or semi-solid)
7. Sockhead Hat (sock; any colors)
8. Moab Shawl (sock; any colors) *need pattern*
9. Prowl (DK; solid or semi-solid) *need pattern*

Secret Sock Club Bags - Pick a bag at random; do pattern with yarn
1. Scotch & Soda Scarf (using Briar Rose Fibers Wistful, leftover from my Icarus Shawl)
2. CashSilk Fern Scarf (using ONline Supersocke 100)
3. Jabberwonky (using KP Felici in Abracadabra)
4. If You Know Where To Go (using KP Felici in Green Veggies)
5. Gardener's Socks (using Malabrigo Sock in Indiacita)

Stranded Knitting
1. University of Wisconsin Ski Hat
2. University of Wisconsin Christmas Stocking
3. University of Wisconsin Button Beanie
4. Xanadu Snowflake Cowl

Christmas/Charity Bin
1. 198 yds. of Heaven (worsted; any colors)
2. Phillip and Mr. Grum (sock yarn; any colors)
3. Comfort Food (Aran; solid)
4. Fine Fella (worsted; solid or semi-solid)
5. November Leaves (Shelter from stash) *need pattern*
6. Skinner Hat (sock; solid or semi-solid) *need pattern*
7. The Shoemaker's Hat (bulky; solid or semi-solid) *need pattern*
8. Roll Out The Barrels (cotton; any colors)
9. Sweeny Todd Scarf (worsted; any colors)
10. Bridal Shower Lace Cloth (cotton; any colors)
11. The Snowmen Cometh (worsted; any colors)
12. Sunburst Dishcloth (cotton; any colors)
13. Starfish Cloth (cotton; any colors)
14. Seamless Circular Cloth (cotton; any colors)
15. Tombreck (Aran/worsted; solid or semi-solid)
16. Premie Spiral Hat (for hospital donations - sport or DK; any colors)

Designs
1. Fire Socks (finish prototype and pattern for submission) *half finished, started other half as proposal; currently writing the pattern*
2. Ice Socks (knit prototype and pattern for submission)
3. Susan's Hat (make proper - photos, pattern, etc.)
4. Little Man's Baby Blanket (make proper - photos, pattern, etc.)
5. Paradiddle Socks (knit prototype - see "Items for ME")

Spinning
1. Spin approximately 4 oz of either a grey wool or white merino to ply with the purple silk/merino listed in the FO section above.
2. Finish up the remaining Asshole Blue Corriedale that I found in Stormageddon's room awhile ago (don't even get me started on this one!)
3. Start something new...or something different....or, just something :)



In the "real world," or whatever you want to call our life in California.....

Well, we've already talked a little bit about the LARP event happening so no further discussion needs to happen regarding that.

First and foremost, Little Man's school assignment came on Friday afternoon (via email). We put in for a transfer to the Montessori that he's been going to this past school year because the school he was supposed to be going to...well, we weren't crazy about it. It was the lowest-rated school in the entire district. But, the transfer went through and he'll get to stay at the school he's been attending all year! WOOHOO! I suspect that the rest of the kids in his class that are eligible for kindergarten also got in, as well as a couple new faces. There are approximately 36 slots open for kindergarten for next year (and another 24 at the other Montessori school in the district, which I imagine will be filled by the kids already going to the preschool program over there). So, that's exciting. In celebration, we let Little Man pick dinner on Friday. Of all things, he picked Five Guys. Whatever. It made him happy.

Otherwise, this week has been very......trying. I think that's probably the best word for it. Little Man was very naughty this week. Not long ago, I discovered that he drew pictures (in crayon) all over my antique dining room table. I actually did some damage to the table getting it off (soap & water with a scrubby brush). I was not very happy with him or the fact that he tried to hide it and then lied about doing it. So, we thought (hoped) it was just a one-time incident.

Nope.

On Tuesday, I discovered that he colored on my bamboo floor, my buffet, a little side table we use to elevate a snowman decoration, a cinderblock, the couch, and the unfinished wood shelving unit where we hid the garbage cans.

To say I was not pleased is an understatement. He has lost his crayons, markers, and paints for quite awhile. I've also taken away his dry erase markers. He still has his chalk but that might be going, too. We'll see. I had to scrub at the floor and the buffet to get the crayon off. Unfortunately, the unfinished wood is going to require a sander, which we don't have. ::sigh::

He's apologized several times, I think in hopes that he gets his art supplies back...but it's not happening. He is in big, big, big, BIG trouble...and he knows it. We did, however, find out what caused all of it: attention. He's seeking attention. I've been busy with his baby brother, Husband has been playing video games with his brother-in-law (Diablo III), and he wanted someone to play with him but he wouldn't ask and he'd get mad if I'd have to stop halfway through and take care of his brother. Basically, he was just wanting our attention. So, we've been trying harder since then to give him the attention he wants and deserves.

Stormageddon, on the other hand, has been a relatively "normal" baby this week. We started learning animal sounds. So far, I think he knows, "quack" and "bark." We keep trying, "moo" but it doesn't seem to be sticking. I think the other two are because he sees them often enough. He's also shown me that he can actually jump (instead of hop-skip like he usually does).


Have some photos from this week :)

It's not often that I have photos of Puppy on the blog. But, this is Puppy. He's..........special. Okay, he's not really but this is the kind of crap he does. Apparently this is Puppy Yoga by Peter (yes, our dog's name is Peter). He's the laziest dog I've ever met but if he gets loose, we're all in trouble because for as lazy as that dog is, he can run. He's going to be five years old in May. He's a purebred Brittany Spaniel, which is akin to an English Spaniel (but they have short hair, that's about the only difference). He's known for lazing about, watching squirrels eat his food less than two feet from his face and doing nothing...but God forbid he hears another dog down the street. He'll bark and bark and jump around like an idiot. ::sigh::

Stormageddon got a new hat. He's looking very much like his great-grandfather, whom he's named after. My grandpa used to wear hats like this all the time, though they were usually plain. We found this one at Target and he likes it. He has another one but it's too small so we replaced it with a bigger one. 

And here's my little devil. Yes, he looks so sweet and innocent...but he's been a right little puke this past week. It's a good thing he's cute because all that garbage this past week......

And this happened on Friday afternoon. Little Man wanted to have a lightsaber fight with Husband. They started out on the front steps, of which there is video, and then they moved to the front sidewalk. Little Man will tell you he won the battle. Husband will tell you he won the battle. Personally, I think I was the winner. Then again, what do I know about lightsaber battles?

I hope you're having a lovely weekend :) I hope to be back before the week is over with a Stash Enhancement (my Knitcircus club yarn came on Friday, as I mentioned above) and perhaps an FO Friday post about the Swirl Hat. We'll see how the week goes!