In my defense, we were driving home from Palm Springs on Sunday, which is about an 8 hour drive. Then I started writing this on Monday. Then it was yesterday. And now it's Wednesday. That's why my update is late: I have no concept of days. So, with that said, I'm going to pretend it's still Monday...
Let's get going :)
FOs (Finished Objects)
1. Greenwood Fiberworks Dark BFL (Viktor): started 28 June 2020; finished 17 January 2021
2. Boo-Yah: started 26 January 2021; finished 27 January 2021
3. Minecraft Socks: started 12 August 2020; finished 6 March 2021
4. Alpaca (Viktor): started 17 January 2021; finished 17 March 2021
5. Dyeing Project: started 9 April, 2021; finished 9 April 2021
6. El Panal Cowl: started 5 April 2021; finished 29 April 2021
7. Rose City Rollers: started 7 March 2021; finished 1 June 2021
8. Unknown Wool (Viktor): started 26 June 2021; finished 27 June 2021
9. Abstract Fibers Merino Tencel (Viktor): started 27 June 2021; finished 29 June 2021
10. Frabjous Fibers Merino Top (Viktor): started 30 June 2021; finished 2 July 2021
11. Allons-y Fiber Arts Merino (Viktor): started 4 July 2021; finished 7 July 2021
Even though I had ample knitting time in the car the past few days, no new FOs came of it...
WIPs (Works-in-Progress) *these are carried over year after year, as 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. Linen Stitch Scarf: started 2 June 2020
10. Vanilla Socks: started 9 August 2020
11. Sand Drift Blanket: started 17 January 2021
12. Flax for Stormageddon: started 29 April 2021
13. Rose City Rollers: started 1 June 2021
I brought three projects to work on while we were on our way to and while we were in Palm Springs: Herbivore, the Linen Stitch Scarf, and my Rose City Rollers. Amazingly, I worked on all three of them!
My Linen Stitch Scarf made measurable progress, which is kind of a big deal because although it's relatively meditative knitting and easy to start and stop, I rarely take the time to just work on it for a long period of time to notice any real progress. But this time around, I added probably a good 6-8" to the length. I'm doing it across 20 or 25 stitches so the rows are short, thankfully...but it takes awhile to get any length to it because I don't spend a lot of time at once. Any progress is still progress but evident progress is different. Kind of like when you're losing weight (or gaining weight) - you can see the change on the scale but you don't see the change in the mirror.
Herbivore....it's a delightful knit but I only managed one pattern repeat, which is four rows. But, that one pattern repeat took me about an hour to do, so while it's not a lot in the way of measurable progress, it's still progress. I really do like the pattern...but the rows are long. ::sigh::
My Rose City Rollers made good progress in that I'm at the point where I need to Kitchener the first sock. I had ample time to do it in the car but I really didn't want to screw that up so I left it and worked on the scarf. So, that needs to be done and I'll have a half-finished object, which totally counts for Stash Dash. I'd rather finish the whole thing, though. We'll see.
OMGLSGWTFBBQ
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. Paradiddle Socks: started 19 October 2017 - write pattern (iteration: here)
Design Ideas:
1. Christmas Stocking for Husband
2. Christmas Stocking for Little Man
3. Christmas Stocking for Stormageddon
4. Baby Blanket
5. Stomping Grounds Collection
Items for ME (Selfish Knitting FTW!):
1. Rose's Wrist Warmers (DK weight - using Aran instead; hand-dyed Malabrigo Twist?)
2. Perianth (fingering weight - Knitcircus Trampoline in The Whole Enchilada)
3. Stranger Things Hat (worsted - Malabrigo Rios in Archangel)
4. Autopilot (worsted weight - Sincere Sheep Cormo Worsted or htNEVELE Worsted in Reveire)
5. Fine Tune (fingering weight - uses minis so maybe a rainbow type one with the Canon Hand Dyes?)*
6. Flax (worsted weight - Misty Alpaca in the Harry Potter colors)
7. Park Slope (fingering weight - Mountain Fibers Crazyfoot in Shamrock)
8. Undone (bulky - maybe the reclaimed yarn from the Freeport Vest?)
9. Socks (fingering weight - Bob knows I have enough so I should use it - maybe with the CSM)
10. Sockhead (fingering weight - I have tons...pick something!)
11. Age of Brass & Steam (Handspun purple/white barber pole)
12. Radiate Shawl (fingering weight - Artfibers Carezza maybe?)
Children's Items/Knitting for others
1. Honey Badger: (worsted weight - black & white acrylic I have banging around the stash)*
2. Mittens for Stormageddon (worsted weight probably)
3. Maybe a Flax for Little Man...maybe...
4. Mittens for my grandmother (worsted, purple...she loves purple)
Utilitarian/Household Items
1. Garter Chevron Blanket (KP Mighty Stitch - may need to get some more black or white)
2. Diagonal Knit Dishcloths (cotton of some sort)
3. Reusable Produce Bag (cotton or acrylic of some sort - worsted)
4. Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth (cotton or maybe bamboo, depending on the use)
Spinning:
Dyeing:
Other Fibery Endeavors:
California has been the same as it has always been, with the added stress of possibly moving. Husband got a new job, which is 100% remote so why are we staying here where everything is so expensive?! So, we're looking at moving back to Wisconsin. We will likely buy land and build a house, rather than try to find something we like.
In the meantime, school starts and we have a house to purge/pack. We don't know for sure when we're moving. Initially, we thought about just doing it before school started but we took some time over the weekend to think about it and talk about it and we decided we couldn't rush right into this (even though we did put an offer in on a house last week - specifically my grandparents' house, which we sold to move out here). Plus, building a house is kind of a pain in the ass so we'll have to buy land, find an architect, find a builder, and try to do this from California.
Not a big deal, right?!
Aside from that, we went to Palm Springs over the weekend. We have friends that had a house in Santa Rosa, which burned to the ground in the fires last summer (after a close call a year or two before that) and instead of rebuilding, they took the insurance money and built a house in Palm Springs. We drove down on Friday and came back Sunday. It's a long drive but it was nice to get away for the weekend.
And because this update is already late, just a few photos :)
We printed out some basic chess directions for the boys and they played a game on their own, which was interesting. They don't quite understand the check/checkmate part but they'll get there. This was before we left for Palm Springs.
In Palm Springs, out friends are slowly decorating. They found a consignment shop where all the local real estate staging decorators and interior designers buy and sell their items. If you see it one day, you better buy it because it'll likely be gone the next time you come in. They found Our Lady Beyoncé (I named her) at this shop. She's hanging on their wall.
We made pickles while we were there. We had a bunch of cucumbers that were going to go bad so we brought them down (along with oranges, lemons, and limes from our trees) and we made fridge pickles using a knock-off Claussen recipe. We had to go buy a few things (like jars) but it's relatively simple. So, in a couple weeks, they'll have pickles.
Also, did I mention that Palm Springs is HOT?! Because it totally is. When we arrived at almost 10pm, it was still 93ºF and the boys wanted to go swimming. So, that happened. Husband took a photo the next evening where you can see the mountains in the background. Also, I'm a fan of their pool (you can see me on the left). Someday, we'll have a damn pool!
Anyway, I hope you've had a lovely week and weekend and beginning of the week and so on and so forth. I'm going to try try try to get in on time this weekend but we'll have to see how things go. Woo!
Some exciting, and stressful choices. Not to mention that building is costly and slow currently. Lumber prices are falling but other building materials are still quite expensive. Trying to get contractors is also long and slow. My nephew is trying to build a house in Kentucky and we are trying to get major home repairs arranged. You couldn't get me out of California fast enough. Love the Midwest.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely understand about not knowing what day of the week it is, I am frequently left questioning the calendar. Nice work making progress on some WIPs!
ReplyDeleteA move is always stressful. And I agree, why live somewhere so expensive when you work remotely!
OMGOSH, possibly moving? That's a big decision, but understandable. My husband still looks at real estate in other places, like Oregon. We may move when the Freshman starts college in four years.
ReplyDelete