Y5: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Update #16

Happy Sunday! 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
7. Swatch for Marly Bird class at Stitches West: started January 8, 2016; finished February 7, 2016 (no project page)
8. Fire Socks design (the actual pattern writing & photography part): started February 6, 2016; finished February 12, 2016 (link to the preview; pattern went live on Saturday, April 2nd)
9. Mountains Beanie: started February 9, 2016; finished February 17, 2016
10. Rathmore: started February 25, 2016; finished March 4, 2016
11. Dragon's Egg Socks: started September 2, 2013; finished March 9, 2016
12. Creeper for Little Man: started March 4, 2016; finished March 10, 2016
13. Mother Bear Project #1: started February 22, 2016; finished March 12, 2016
14. Asshole Corriedale (spinning project): started March 23, 2016; finished March 24, 2016
15. Pacific Waves: started March 9, 2016; finished March 25, 2016
16. Freeport Vest Frogging: started March 29, 2016; finished March 29, 2016
17. Pacific Waves: started March 31, 2106; finished April 2, 2016
18. Vanilla Latte Socks: started November 19, 2015; finished April 6, 2016
19. Snape's Stockings: started August 20, 2014; finished April 11, 2016
20. Pacific Waves: started April 3, 2016; finished April 15, 2016

So, it appears that I've finished a couple items this week. You can read about Snape's Stockings, as well as the Pacific Waves hat (#17) and the Vanilla Latte Socks here. And then, Friday afternoon, I finished up another version of the Pacific Waves hat (#20). It's currently in need of some more attention, specifically weaving in ends and some minor repair work (the yarn had some breakage in the plies in a couple spots). It has, however, had a trip in the Eucalan/water mix. So, I've got that going for me.

I call it a win :)


WIPs (Works-In-Progress) - carried over year-to-year
1. Wink: started January 5, 2015
2. Ice Socks: started January 7, 2016
3. Finn & Suffolk singles: started April 1, 2016
4. CashSilk Fern Scarf: started April 7, 2016
5. Gex for Little Man: started April 8, 2016

Aside from finishing up the two projects noted above, I've spent most of this week working on the Gex test knit. You can read about my progress here. Right now, I'm in the midst of stockinette hell...for another 9", at least. Given that Little Man is tall, it's probably going to be more like 11". I'm also having some internal panic that it's not going to be big enough. Once it's a bit longer, I'll be able to move the arm stitches to some interchangeable cables and have Little Man try it on. I also understand that the yarn is going to grow a little when I wash it....but still, I'm worried that it's too small and I'll have to make it again in a bigger size.

I also pulled my wheel down, finished spinning the first half of the Finn & Suffolk blend, and started the second bobbin.

Oh, and I had to frog and restart the CashSilk Fern Scarf because I am, apparently, still incapable of reading charts. There are symbols for a s2kpsso and k3tog and they lean differently and instead of, you know, paying attention to my chart, I just kept going with my s2kpssos instead of switching to the k3tog when I was supposed to. I did try to tink it back and fix it....but that just didn't happen. So, frogged it and caught back up to where I was and knit a few more rows. So, I suppose that's a win. It would have been a bigger win if I hadn't screwed up in the first place. I think I've got a whole two pattern repeats finished. It's only a 12-row chart but it's still slow-going sometimes.

Let's just not talk about those other two projects.....I've touched my Ice Socks but that's about it. Maybe a couple rounds of ribbing...maybe.


In my "OMGCRAZYLADYWTFLSGBBQ" lists...

Children's Items
1. George's Vest (for Stormageddon - probably the largest size; YOTH Little Brother from Stitches)
2. House Hat (one each for Stormageddon and Little Man - worsted, two contrasting colors)
3. Arthur the Alien (for Little Man - worsted; any colors)
4. Holiday Countdown Stockings (for the family - Aran/worsted; four colors)
5. Mirkwood (for Little Man - worsted or bulky; any colors)

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 - Plucky Primo in Petunia?)
4. Hermione Hearts Ron Fingerless Mitts (sport weight; solid or semi-solid - Plucky Primo in Petunia?)
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. Jabberwonky (using KP Felici in Abracadabra)
3. If You Know Where To Go (using KP Felici in Green Veggies)
4. 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. Ice Socks (knit prototype and pattern for submission)
2. Susan's Hat (make proper - photos, pattern, etc.; knit new prototype from Babs K2 from Stitches)
3. Little Man's Baby Blanket (make proper - photos, pattern, etc.)
4. Paradiddle Socks (knit prototype - see "Items for ME")
5. Pacific Waves Hat (knit prototype, pattern for submission? self-publish?) *I've started this*
6. Stormageddon's Baby Blanket (design process, knit prototype, etc.)

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.

Other (for things that are fibery/crafty in nature but not specific to knitting or spinning)
1. Organize my handmade stitch markers
2. Make more stitch markers (to sell? donate? hoard?)



I'll be honest, I kind of feel nekkid with only five WIPs going, even though two of them are sweaters. I'm kind of having that urge to start something else....quite possibly some rainbow socks, as soon as I find some white for the cuffs, heel flaps, and toes. But those will be my "travel" knittings. Sooooo, there's that. And one of my WIPs is a spinning project, so for some reason, my head doesn't equate it with "WIP." In other words, my brain thinks I have four WIPs and that I need more, especially as only one of those WIPs are a pair of socks. Meh. Whatever.

Onto reality.....

Little Man went back to school this week, which was a Godsend. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him this summer when he's home for eight weeks straight. I have a feeling we're going to have lots of playdates and time at the park and trips to the zoo this summer, which is perfectly fine with me.

But it's been a week of readjustment. We were all going to bed later than we normally would and, thus, getting up later than we normally would. So, just the time readjustment alone was pretty rough. I think we're back to normal but we'll see how things go tomorrow morning. And then there was the actual walks to and from school. It's not like it's a long walk to and from school (1.2 miles, round trip, twice a day)...but when you spend two weeks not doing it, it's a little rough doing it again. So, I've had sore legs, which I still find rather strange. Oh well.

Before all that started, last Sunday, we did a few things around the house. We dug out some annoying bushes along our driveway and planted hops (as in things you use in beer-making). So far, only one of the five have sprouted, which is fine...we're hoping the other four sprout soon. We also worked in the greenhouse, pulling the radishes, replanting some of the other plants that were getting waterlogged (eggplant and runner beans, specifically), and other yardwork like mowing the lawn, weed whacking, and leaf blowing. It was all very exciting.

Little Man also collected his first carrot bounty.

Normally, we wouldn't have pulled this carrot but it was in a bin that was partially waterlogged and it was mostly out already. So, we pulled this wee little carrot.

We found this guy on our walk home from school on Monday.

This snail was HUGE. The ledge it's sucking onto for dear life was about 2" from top to bottom. So, like I said, HUGE SNAIL. We could see it a couple houses away, though we didn't know for sure it was a snail until we were closer.

A lot of the rest of the week was spent taking care of a few things that just have been driving me nuts but that I've not had the time with which to deal with them. The hardwood floors were swept, the mantle was cleaned off, I dusted the TV & TV stand, cleaned the TV screen, cleaned the stove (the top, including washing the grates), cleaned the fridge face, found our dining room table under all the paperwork, the carpets in the bedrooms were vacuumed, laundry was done, blah blah blah. In other words, we were rather productive.

Stormageddon loves this monkeybunny (it's a "sock monkey" that's dressed as the Easter bunny). He was giving it a hug when I took that photo.

The next morning, this happened:

A boy and his breakfast. He sat in daddy's chair with his boppy and milk and called it good while I was getting Little Man going. Silly boy.

Honestly, I've no idea what Little Man drew but he drew this on the pavement at school. I took a photo because he asked me to. I think he did this on Friday morning because it wasn't there before school and he had me photograph it when I picked him up.

In other crafty-esque things, these happened:

These are two 5x8 sketchbooks (roughly an A5, if you're not from the US), made by Canson (they come in a 2-pk). I took Little Man to JoAnn Fabrics and had him pick out two sheets of scrapbooking paper and two sheets of cardstock. Then we went to Flax Art & Design here in town, where we picked up the sketchbooks and some book binding tape. As you can see, he was into water-themed paper.

I glued the scrapbooking paper onto the cover and pressed it down lots. I covered the spines with the book binding tape, obviously. I then cut the cardstock in half and used that on the inside cover. I glued it down but because the scrapbooking paper didn't work exactly the way I had envisioned, I needed something else...and in comes Washi Tape. I had some that I haven't used and covered the edges of the cardstock on the inside cover. So, he has a couple fake fancy sketchbooks. He loves them. I'm considering taking actual proper book binding classes. I've got the gist of what to do but I want to make something that's actually, you know, nice. We'll see. I've got supplies to make a couple more for myself at some point. It's a pretty easy way to make something "yours" and look better than just the plain cover. It's not perfect and there's plenty of room for improvement but for the kiddo, it's fine.

Other than that, it's been a fairly standard week around here :)

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend!