It's been a busy week around here so I suppose we should just get rolling :)
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
21. Creeper Hat: started April 28, 2016; finished May 4, 2016
22: Finn & Suffolk blend (spinning): started April 1, 2016; singles finished May 27, 2016; plied May 31, 2016
23. Gex for Little Man: started April 8, 2016; finished June 5, 2016
24. Bridal Shower Lace Cloth: started June 20, 2016; finished June 27, 2016
25. TdF: 25%/25%/50% purple merino/silk & white merino (~ 540 yds; ~ 8 oz; DK/lt. worsted): started during TdF last year and finished the purple singles January 29, 2016; started the white last weekend, plied them on July 4, 2016
26. TdF: 25%/25%/50% leftover purple merino/silk & leftover kelly green merino (~ 20 yds; unknown weight; DK/lt. worsted): leftover bits that were plied on July 4, 2016
27. TdF: 100% merino, 50% hot pink, 50% grey (~ 50 yds; ~ 1 oz; DK/lt. worsted): started & finished on July 5, 2016
28: TdF: 100% merino, 50% rose pink, 50% navy blue (~ 50 yds; ~ 1 oz; DK/lt. worsted): started & finished on July 5, 2016
29. TdF: 25%/25%/50% leftover purple merino/silk & leftover hot pink merino (~ 10 yds; unknown weight; DK/lt. worsted): the purple was started during TdF last year and finished January 29, 2016; the hot pink was spun on July 5, 2016; they were plied on July 5, 2016
30. TdF: 100% merino, 50% leftover hot pink, 50% leftover navy blue (~ 10 yds; unknown weight; DK/lt. worsted): started & finished on July 5, 2016
31. TdF: 100% merino, rainbow gradient (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and white) (~ 220 yds; ~ 4 oz; worsted): started July 5, 2016; finished July 6, 2016
With Tour de Fleece going on, I've had a rash of finishes this week (#25-#31). To be fair, a lot of the finishes were bits and bobs of random bits of singles that I plied together to clear the bobbins. But, I did a few big ones, as well.
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| Purple merino/silk & white merino |
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| L to R: leftover green merino & leftover purple merino/silk; leftover hot pink merino & leftover purple merino/silk; the purple merino/silk & white merino; hot pink merino & grey merino (the small one in the big one) |
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| Close-up of the hot pink & grey merino |
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| Rainbow gradient |
I haven't taken all my photos yet and not everything has been washed (in fact, the rainbow gradient is still on the niddy-noddy). But I did a lot of spinning this week.
WIPs (Works-In-Progress) - carried over year-to-year
1. Wink: started January 5, 2015
2. Caffe Macchiato Socks: started May 7, 2016
3. Gex for Niece: started June 28, 2016
4. Tour de Fleece: July 2nd-24th, 2016
Let's be honest here. There has been no knitting. I've only been spinning. Currently, I'm working on this TdF project:
Fat Cat Fibers 50%/50% merino/tencel in Razzmatazz. I bought these within the last year at Purlescence Yarns in Sunnyvale and originally, I was going to buy just two of the braids...but the third one looked so lonely and I bought it, too. That means I have twelve (12) ounces of fiber to spin. My (tentative) plan is to spin each braid as a single onto separate bobbins and then do a three-ply on my big bobbin (I hope it fits!). Currently, I have two of the braids completely spun and the third one is mocking me. I was going to spin it yesterday but the day got away from me and I actually didn't do any spinning. ::sigh::
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| Braid #1 |
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| Braid #2 |
No knitting. Seriously, I've been so busy with Viktor that I don't even want to knit right now :)
In my "WTFCRAZYLADYOMGLSGBBQ" 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)
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. The Snowmen Cometh (worsted; any colors)
11. Sunburst Dishcloth (cotton; any colors)
12. Starfish Cloth (cotton; any colors)
13. Seamless Circular Cloth (cotton; any colors)
14. Tombreck (Aran/worsted; solid or semi-solid)
15. Premie Spiral Hat (for hospital donations - sport or DK; any colors)
Designs
1. Ice Somethingsomething (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 prototypes in various weights/sizes, pattern for submission? self-publish?) *I've started this*
6. Stormageddon's Baby Blanket (design process, knit prototype, etc.)
Spinning
1. Survive TdF and SPIN ALL THE THINGS!
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?)
3. Organize my books/magazines/loose patterns. *started*
Around here, things are......well........I don't really know how to begin, actually. This week has been something of an emotional roller coaster with the shootings of two black men by police officer(s) (one in Louisiana, the other in Minnesota) and then the sniper shootings of police officers in Dallas. In addition to that, there were protests that shut down parts of I-880 in Oakland. While I loved living in Alameda, I'm not sorry to see Oakland from afar. I'm still on an emotional rollercoaster from the domestic terrorism that happened at Pulse in Orlando last month. I want to scream at people that say stupid things like "All Lives Matter" and "If you cooperate, nothing happens." Um....excuse me, your privilege is showing (white, male, whatever). I know I have privilege because I'm white. I also know that I deal with oppression because I'm female. Sorry, I'm a bit uppity about all this bullshit. We are better than this. And if we're not, we need to get our shit together because what has been happening is not okay. Not at all.
A bit closer to home, though...
We had a benign week, really. We went up to Santa Rosa last week and discovered that Stormageddon likes to be tossed in the pool. He has a wetsuit with a flotation system built into it but he's not quite strong enough so we also put wings on him. With both those, he's all over the pool. He's a little fish, just like Little Man. So, he loves to be thrown up into the air and landing in the water. While we were in Santa Rosa, much food was consumed.
This was only part of the spread. We made the brisket (the one with the fork in the middle of this photo) but we also had hot dogs, pasta salad, a lovely little snacky treat that is a date stuffed with roasted nuts (either almonds or chestnuts.....I cannot remember) and wrapped in bacon, and a bunch of other stuff.
We spent the 4th of July fixing our pool. It's been uneven for quite awhile so we drained it, mostly leveled it and got it back to what it should be, and then refilled it. It's quite a bit deeper. I used to be able to walk on my knees in the pool and now the water comes up to my armpits. So, that was fixed and lovely. Unfortunately, we found a few black widow spiders around the pool so we sprayed a lot of insect killer around the house and pool this week.
On Friday, I took the boys to the zoo.
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| Peafowl |
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| Penguins! |
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| What trees look like here |
I didn't take too many photos and most of the photos I did take were of Stormageddon. I have to keep a close eye on him because he's a flight risk and he can climb. He was pretty good, though. He only tried to run out of the 2-5 year old area a couple of times. He wanted to find Little Man.
What else, what else....really, not much else happened this week.
I do have a few photos from last weekend's birthday party, courtesy of one of the other mamas.
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| Some of the Bad Mamas (haha! - and yes, I'm in the middle with my tongue out - don't judge me!) |
Anyway, I hope you're having a lovely weekend! I really hope I can get it together and get the FO Friday post done for the Gex sweater. Maybe. We'll see. I think Little Man is on board with having photographs done. Maybe some WIP Wednesday action is in order......and a stash acquisition will be coming (club stuff, as well as some items I ordered from Amazon)......
Your spinning is beautiful. Might not have gotten any knitting done this week but once you do hit the needles you will have plenty of beautifully made choices.
ReplyDeleteViolence is so scary and sad. Hate that our kids are growing up with so much.
I have a bunch of handspun that I've not used...I spend all this time spinning and my handspun just hangs out. ::sigh:: The good news is that I have a loose plan for the rainbow gradient...we'll see what I can find.
DeleteI love water babies. My girls lived at the pool in Oahu. You are whipping out that spun fleece girl. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteI am not a water person, really.....so the fact that the boys love the water just means they're Husband's kids.
DeleteAll your spun yarn is beautiful. I'm super in love with that purple, green and orange yarn.
ReplyDeleteI just hope it doesn't look like cat poo when I ply it :)
DeleteI am so envious of the spinning. How much fun it must be to make your own fiber in the thickness you want for the project you want. Your boys are such a joy to watch on your blog. They always seem so happy and having such a good time.
ReplyDeleteThese past couple of months are truly some of the hardest to bare. My hubby is an ex cop and he is just dumb founded by the actions of some of the officers but Dallas really tore him up. We need to take control of our country again and practice love and non judgement EVERYWHERE with EVERYONE!
You flatter me. I'm not that good of a spinner. Most of my yarn is thick-n-thin, hanging around a DK or worsted weight when I finish plying. I have a friend that can consistently spin cobweb thread and ply it to make laceweight. I can only hope to be that good someday.
DeleteI am exhausted just reading what you have accomplished. You are a rock star. I had to laugh at the start and finish dates of your dragon egg socks. Were you waiting for them to hatch??
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I can think of is that the yarn was dark (forest green), I had charts to wrangle in a magazine, and I had small children that wouldn't let me work from said charts. Oh well. They're done :)
DeleteLove the colours in your spinning. Should look amazing when knitted up.xox
ReplyDeleteI just hope it looks fabulous when I'm done plying :)
DeleteWhat gorgeous spinning? Love all the pinks and the latest batch is stunning.
ReplyDeleteThank you :) I don't think it's all that fabulous but I'm probably a bit hyper-critical of myself.
DeleteLove all the spinning, I've been enjoying seeing it on IG but seeing it all here together just shows how much your going through....love!! Love the bad mamas pic :D
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't realize how much I do until I start getting the post together...and then I keep thinking, "I really did all that this week?!"
DeleteYour handspun looks bloody amazing, glad you are making good progress on tour de fleece! And that brisket looks phenomenal, I adore brisket. That photo of you and the other 'bad moms' reminds me that I so badly want to see that new movie of the same name at the end of the month- it looks hilarious!
ReplyDeleteYeah, who do you think I'm going to see that movie with? Those two, plus one other mama (it was at her daughter's birthday party so she was doing Birthday Girl Mama stuff)...
DeleteAnd we smoke that brisket for 18 hours and it's fabulous. I think we've got it down now (after a couple iffy attempts - they tasted good but they weren't "melt in your mouth" brisket).
Wow, I do envy people that can spin, such a talent. Wonderful colours in the Razmatazz, it suits it's name well. Your kids look like they have had a fun time at the zoo. Leah x
ReplyDeleteI don't know why but I picked up spinning fairly easily and I'm mostly self-taught...of course, that's with a wheel. My drop spindles and I do not get along and I don't use them often. In fact, I'm missing pieces for my pseudo-Turkish one. Oops.
DeleteI'll be very curious to see how the Razzamatazz ends up after plying. I find it very hard to look at the fiber and envision how it will look as handspan.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos of Stormageddon! He's got a great smile!
Well, lovely lady, you'll get to see it next week because it has all been plied :)
DeleteSorry girl. I didn't have a lot of sleep the night before and I had two in the back who were more about getting back home to play with the neighbor.
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely spinning. I'm attempting to knit. I can't even imagine spinning. You are going to have some amazing yarn to use.
ReplyDeleteI admire anyone who can spin. It's on my to-learn list. Love all your achievements this week. Tour de Fleece looks like a fun occupation. I'll be following your plying with interest.
ReplyDeleteWow, you are one busy lady! I'm impressed with all you have going on. Your boys are so cute! My boys are 19 and 22 years old now and hairy! I love your background for your blog! I can't wait to see what else you get done this next week.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I meant to say the news has been pretty depressing for me too. I had to stop looking at it and stayed away from facebook too since everyone is talking about it all there. Some even messaged me and called me a racist because I used the hash tag alllivesmatter. They said it "erased" the hashtag blacklivesmatter. I am not racist so that was upsetting to me. Sometimes you just have to take a break from all the drama. My oldest son's first birthday was the day of the Oklahoma City bombing and I wouldn't allow the news to be on during that time, not because I didn't care but because I can't let it keep me stressed out. If I can't fix something there is no use staying focused on it. I can say a prayer for those involved and then I have to move on past it. I deal with depression sometimes so that is my way of avoiding it when I can.
ReplyDelete