Year NINE: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - The days are long and you are hot (Update #28)

Hello and happy Sunday! I'm a bit late because we are traveling right now. Well, we've arrived at our destination but that means that we're on vacation of some sort. It's fine. I'm posting. We'll get there!


FOs (Finished Objects):
1. Ewetopia Stripey Socks: started 15 November 2018; finished 29 January 2020
2. Tiny Turtle: started 7 November 2019; finished 30 January 2020
3. Mirkwood: started 9 February 2020; finished 17 February 2020
4. Campfire Socks: started 17 October 2018; frogged 9 April 2020
5. Sockhead: started 8 January 2020; finished 25 May 2020
6. Baby Yoda: started 14 March 2020; finished 13 June 2020
7. Abracadabra Socks: started 7 August 2018; finished 18 June 2020
8. Multi-Colored Merino Top (Viktor): started 16 January 2019; finished 30 June 2020
9. Oread Hat (test knit): started 2 July 2020; finished 11 July 2020

As I expected, I finished up the test knit hat yesterday. I've taken no photos, it hasn't been washed, I know nothing about yardage, nada. I won't take care of any of that until we get home. I did weave in the ends but that was it. I might wash it and lay it flat to dry while we're here but time will tell. Just know that it was finished and it does fit Little Man. I'm not sure if it will fit me but we'll see. I'm still debating if I'll make it again using worsted weight and see if that changes the dynamic or not. 



WIPs (Works-in-Progress) (These are carried over year to year if 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. Prototype Something Something Raindrops: started 11 April 2019
10. Linen Stitch Scarf: started 2 June 2020
11. Rose City Rollers: started 18 June 2020
12. Greenwood Fiberworks Dark BFL: started 28 June 2020

Admittedly, I didn't do a lot of crafting this past week (which I'll get to in a mo') but what little I did manage to do involved spinning the Greenwood Fiberworks Dark BFL. I only spun about an ounce but it was nice to spin. I am not rocking this Tour de Fleece but that's not unusual. 

I think the only other thing I worked on was the aforementioned hat. I was going to work on the Rose City Rollers when we were driving but I wound up becoming the driver so that didn't happen. Oh well. I have a few days yet. 

OMFGLSGWTFBBQ Lists

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. Rastarmulke: started 20 November 2017 - write pattern (iterations: first, second)
10. Paradiddle Socks: started 19 October 2017 - write pattern (iteration: here)


Children's Items:

1. Oliver for Stormageddon (worsted weight - Stunning String Studio from Stitches West 2018)
2. Minecraft Socks for Little Man (fingering weight - Tosh Sock in Plaid Blanket?)
3. Honey Badger: (worsted weight - black & white acrylic I have banging around the stash)*
4. Mittens for Stormageddon (worsted weight probably)
5. I Love Stockinette Baby Bibs (worsted - cotton, acrylic, something)

Items for ME (Selfish Knitting FTW!):

1. Autopilot (worsted weight - Sincere Sheep Cormo Worsted or htNEVELE Worsted in Reveire)

2. Rose's Wrist Warmers (DK weight - using Aran instead; hand-dyed Malabrigo Twist?)

3. Perianth (fingering weight - Knitcircus Trampoline in The Whole Enchilada)

4. Pembroke Scarf (fingering weight - Fresh From the Cauldron Schoodic Sock in Sookie)

5. Flax (worsted weight - Misty Alpaca in the Harry Potter colors)

6. Park Slope (fingering weight - Mountain Fibers Crazyfoot in Shamrock)

7. Socks (fingering weight - I have tons...pick something!)

8. Washcloths/chewcloths (worsted weight - cotton)

9. Sockhead (fingering - I have tons...pick something!)

10. Age of Brass & Steam (Handspun purple/white barber pole)

Designs:

1. Christmas Stocking for Husband

2. Christmas Stocking for Little Man

3. Christmas Stocking for Stormageddon

4. Baby Blanket

Spinning:

1. Wonderland Dyeworks BFL

2. Mixed BFL

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

4. Alpaca (from Lambtown 2014)

5. Fiberlady.com 100% Bamboo 

Dyeing:

1. Sock Blanks
2. Skeins of sock yarn

3. Anything else I find along the way

Other Fibery Endeavors:

1. Create project bag inventory

2. Update library inventory (on Ravelry)

3. Update stash inventory (on Ravelry)

4. Stitch markers

5. Destash as necessary

6. Stash Fit 

I would like to say that nothing much happened last week but I'm totally lying. Husband took last week and this week off and that means we spent last week taking care of some lingering issues around the house. 

This was the first annoyance. 

We have three bathrooms in our house. The one in back doesn't need anything done to it, other than a light fixture change someday. Our master bathroom has had everything done (for now). What we had left was the third bathroom, which is the one across from Little Man's room and is the bathroom that all the boys pee in. You can imagine what that wall looked like. And the baseboard. So, Husband pulled out the baseboard and the toilet, I did the cleaning of the walls and the floor, Husband got the tiles cut and attached to the wall, I did minor adjustments once they were attached to the wall, I did the grouting, the sealing, and the caulking. So, this was before the toilet was installed obviously, but that happened, too. The bathroom looks pretty nice and it'll be much easier to clean because of the tile. Hoooray (since I'm the one that cleans it!). 

Our second annoyance that we took care of had to do with our hot tub. The cover has had a dent in the middle of one side for at least a year, if not longer. It's just some sort of foam wrapped in plastic. Regardless, it had a dent, which leads to water pooling, which leads to the dent getting worse, and then a bigger pool, and more damage and so on. We called the place we purchased it from and asked how much it would be to replace the foam piece. Oh, they don't sell that (because why would they do that?!). A new cover replacement starts at $495. We could buy a cover replacement off Amazon for about $300. Or.....we can go to Home Depot and pick up two pieces of foam, cut them to size, tape them together with waterproof tape, wrap all that in visqueen (thick plastic), and tape it with waterproof tape, then shove it back into the cover. That's what we did. Total cost? Maybe $50 and an hour of work. But I didn't take photos of that because it's boring to look at. 

The bathroom took a couple of days because we needed to let things dry in between but the hot tub cover only took a couple hours (because of trips to Home Depot). 

In between that, I needed to work and live with our children and keep up on all the things going on at home. Oh, and packing for our trip. And two socially distant birthday events. Because why the hell not?!

Stormageddon got this from one of Little Man's friends after he had grown out of it. It fits him perfectly right now. If I could make it last a couple more years, he could be an astronaut for Halloween one year. 

Socially distant birthday events? Yeah. The mom and I are friends so we sat outside, with our masks, 6' apart, while the boys had sword fights with pool noodles and masks. It worked. 

After we were done with the birthday events on Friday, we left for our trip to Washington state, where I'm currently hanging out (eastern Washington). We drove from our house up to Redding and crashed in a hotel for the night. We then drove through the Mt. Shasta area, which was pretty. Shasta still has some snow, though not as much as it "should." 

The boys were fascinated with the idea that the mountain still had snow. They were also confused by all the "winter" signs along the highway for things like snow chains, because we do not get snow in the Bay Area. 

We stopped in Oregon to see a former coworker of Husband's (he was the one that actually got him hired in California). Their house is gorgeous, huge, and in the woods. So jealous. But he did say that if it snows or they have sleet, the hill to get up there will be impassable via car unless it has spikes. Doesn't sound so terrible. After that, I did the driving. I went through Portland while Husband slept. Then I drove through the Columbia Gorge while Husband and Little Man slept and Stormageddon played on his DS. ::sigh::

We arrived at our destination yesterday around 7:30pm and we had a busy day today. We are visiting our pilot friends at their house (for once) and she grew up on a farm where her mom and aunt still live. So today, we went berry picking (blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries) and visited the horses. The boys also played on the swingset and with the tetherball and on bikes. 

So far, we've had a pretty good couple of days. Tomorrow, we're taking the boys out to actually ride the horses and someone said something about s'mores, which will be delightful. Unfortunately, it has occurred to me that I forgot a long-sleeved shirt so I'll have to borrow one of Husband's, which is fine, honestly. Oh well. 

I hope you've had a good week and weekend!