ELEVENTH Self-Imposed Year of Projects - It was FAR too nice for an on-time update! (Update #8)

Woo! It's Monday! It was far too nice yesterday for a proper, on-time update. So, I waited until today. 

FOs (Finished Objects)

Not yet. Someday...

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. Vanilla Socks: started 12 December 2021

I worked on the Linen Stitch Scarf this past week and that was about it. Honestly, I didn't wind up doing a lot of knitting. I was busy doing other things....

I metaphorically pulled the trigger. This is my new spinning wheel (with some of my WIP bags behind it). It's a Spinolution Bullfrog and has one of the three 16 oz bobbins on it. I also bought two of the 8 oz bobbins. I figure I'm more likely to spin 8 oz at a time and ply onto the 16 oz bobbin than something else. I may or may not buy a PaulyWinder, which is the autowinder. My biggest complaint about spinning in general is having to stop and move the feeder. The PaulyWinder means I wouldn't have to do that. Soooo....we'll see. I'm going to give it a go with just the regular winder and decide after I've played with it a bit. 

But that's it. I think.

 

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. Park Slope (fingering weight - Mountain Fibers Crazyfoot in Shamrock)
2. Flax (worsted weight - Misty Alpaca in the Harry Potter colors)
3. Musselburgh (any weight - likely DK or worsted)*
4. 3 Color Cashmere Cowl (fingering weight, 3 colors)*
5. Gradient Band Cowl (fingering weight - Safronie Fairy Tales gradient and a solid)*
6. Fine Tune (fingering weight - uses minis so maybe a rainbow type one with the Canon Hand Dyes?)*
7. Stashbusting Helix Hats (worsted weight - bits and bobs of worsted)
8. Lakeline Tank (Aran weight - I have yarn for this somewhere...like I bought it specifically for this but I can't remember what it is)
9. Hüj Tüb (laceweight - maybe that 100% lace cashmere I've had forever?)
10. Undone (bulky - maybe the reclaimed Freeport Vest yarn?)

 

Children's Items/Knitting for others
1. Flax for Little Man (worsted weight - likely Baah Yarns Shasta in London Blue)
2. Honey Badger: (worsted weight - black & white acrylic I have banging around the stash)*
3. The Mandolorian (sport weight - need grey, white, and green...which I might have)*
4. Zelda Beanie (worsted weight - black or grey and yellow, which I'm sure I have)
5. Wasabi for Mr. K (worsted weight - Cascade 220 in Moss Agate if possible)
6. Bugle for Miss E (worsted weight - multicolor; htNEVELE in Reverie if possible)
7. Bonbon for Miss C (worsted weight - Cascade 220 in Vinci if possible)
8. Baby Bear for Mr. T (fingering weight - anything will work)
9. Pig for Earle & Duane (worsted weight - need pink, of course...maybe a good use for the one skein of Molly Ringwald I have?)

 

Utilitarian/Household Items
1. On-Trend Chair Socks (worsted weight bits and bobs) - I have a lot of chairs that could use these
2. Garter Chevron Blanket (KP Mighty Stitch - may need to get some more black or white)
3. Diagonal Knit Dishcloths (cotton of some sort, possibly a cotton/bamboo blend, depending on use)
4. Reusable Produce Bag (cotton or acrylic of some sort - worsted)
5. Harry Potter Blanket (worsted weight - based on several dishcloth patterns to make blocks)
6. Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth (cotton or a cotton/bamboo blend, again based on use)
7. Pop Blanket (worsted weight - a little of this and that?)
8. Holiday Countdown Stockings (worsted weight - various colors)

 

Spinning:
1. Wonderland Dyeworks BFL in Stream Bed
2. Wonderland Dyeworks BFL in Winter Night
3. Timber Ridge Farm Alpaca Roving
4. Ashland Bay Fiber 100% Merino Top in English Garden
5. Anne's Fiber Expressions Elynenium

 

Dyeing:
1. Sock Blanks (I think I have 5 left)
2. Random worsted/sport skeins (I have maybe 2-3 left)
3. Anything else I find along the way (I don't think there's anything else, but maybe?)

 

Other Fibery Endeavors:
1. Stash Fit
2. Create a project bag inventory
3. Update library inventory (on Ravelry)
4. Update stash inventory (on Ravelry) and reorganize yarn
5. Stitch markers: make kits and individual for Etsy shop
6. Destash as necessary/needed

 

 

In Wisconsin news.....yeah. Things are not "normal" around here for Wisconsin. Yesterday, it was in the mid-50s and virtually all our snow is gone from the main yard. There's still snow on the hillside but that's got a lot more shade, as that's where the woodland/forest area is located. The boys and I actually played on the basketball court and walked a bit in the back 15 acres (not too far as it was still squishy and muddy).

This is the view from the back. Yes, our new house is huge. And you can see we don't have a lot of snow left.

The boys and I played some basketball. They were fun to play with. Neither have had any specific basketball lessons. So, we did some dribbling and we did some passing. Stormageddon is so small that he has a lot of trouble even getting close to making a basket. And Little Man has no idea of his size so he's kind of....bumbling. But we had fun.

 

On Saturday, I took a drive northeast of here to Capital Bee Supply and I spent the day taking a crash course on beekeeping. We've been talking about having hives for several years but never did it, for whatever reasons. But this time around, we are going to try it out. So, I took the crash course, I have a bunch of videos to watch, and I picked up the beginnings of our basic supplies. They still owe me a few things that they didn't have in stock and I sent them an email this morning to order bees...so that's where we are. 

Husband has been playing his new video game (Horizon Forbidden West, I think), which is fine with me. It's one of the few games he plays. 

Our new bed arrived. We got it all assembled and into our bed frame.....um.........yeah. If I stand next to the bed, the top of the mattress is at my waist and I'm not even kidding. I almost need a stepstool to get into the bed right now. We ordered a new bed frame but we won't get it until probably August...so it's going to be a good exercise getting in and out of bed for awhile. It's not a big deal, for the most part. 

I did go to the chiropractor on Tuesday. Husband was sick of my complaining. ::eye-roll:: It did help but I'm still not 100%. It's just going to take some time and it is getting better. Oh, and I went to see my hair lady that I've basically been seeing since I was about 14 years old (and I did see her a couple of times while we were living in California, as well). I had maybe 2" cut off my hair and we did some color and I don't look quite like an old lady. I don't have pictures though because I've been kind of lax about that. Oh well. 

My craft room looks like a bomb went off. The closet has space saver bags filled with yarn. It's a hot mess in there. But, I have bins so my plan is to start sorting and storing properly. Maybe this week I'll start working on that.

The good news is that I went to Ikea this past week and managed to get my hands on some of the Billy bookcases that we like...and got them put together and started unpacking books and knickknacks. 

Our house has some idiosyncracies. Like yes, our house is 4500 sq. ft. buuuuuut, it has some oddities. This hallway is a perfect example. When you go downstairs, you can turn right into my craft room (above) or you turn left down this hallway (and there's a bathroom there, as well). It's a wide hallway but not wide enough to be called a room of it's own. It turned out to be perfect for bookcases. On the left, I have three of the 31" wide bookcases, which fit perfectly along that wall. Then in the corner on the other side, I have a 31" along the wall next to the bathroom door, then a 15" that we turned as a corner unit, and another 15" along the far wall. If we hadn't had HVAC intake registers along the floor along the far wall, I would have filled that wall with 31" bookcases, as well. But we have those intake registers that cannot be blocked (the boxes that are there have been unpacked and the registers are visible now). Also, the snowman is still hanging out there but he might move. Don't know yet. There's a possibility of getting another 15" bookshelf for the other side but we'll see how things go.

I spent some time earlier in the week unpacking some of my book boxes and knickknack boxes. I still have a long way to go but progress is progress. 

While I was driving one day, Tuesday maybe, I came across a bald eagle. Originally, it was down along the side of the road feasting on something icky and I turned my car around to come back for a photo and it flew off into the tree above. I did manage this photo, though.

I'd never seen one that up close before. So, that was exciting, hence why I wanted to turn around and get a photo. 

Stormageddon likes to climb into our bed on weekend mornings for snuggles. He also wanted to love on Puppy (who has to jump really high to get into the bed). I think this was Saturday morning...

I hope you've had a lovely week and weekend. Maybe I'll be back on time with actual progress on something (anything) next week. 

And then she laughed.