ELEVENTH Self-Imposed Year of Projects - The goings ons and happenings around here (Update #26)

So, it looks like this week is the end of another Year of Projects for a lot of people on the July-June schedule. I am not on the July-June schedule so I'm at my halfway point. Admittedly, I'm somewhat disappointed in myself because I have so few things actually finished. If you really want to be honest, neither of the projects listed in my FOs are truly finished. Both need ends woven in and washing and blocking and everything else. But the knitting is done...

With that said, let's get going :) 

FOs (Finished Objects)
1. Baby Blanket: started 22 April 2022; finished 4 June 2022
2. Herbivore: started 15 November 2018; finished June 2022

Yep. Nothing new. Disappointed in myself. I thought I would have finished more than just two items by this time...but here we are. And to be completely honest, I've only finished the knitting on these two projects. I have ends waiting to be woven in and washing needs to happen.

 

 

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. Linen Stitch Scarf: started 2 June 2020
9. Vanilla Socks: started 9 August 2020
10. Sand Drift Blanket: started 17 January 2021
11. Vanilla Socks: started 12 December 2021
12. Dishcloth: started 25 February 2022
13. Mixed BFL (Annie): started 18 March 2022
14. Lakeline Tank: started 18 March 2022
15. Baby Blanket: started 4 June 2022

I spent my knitting time this week on the baby blanket. I am 25% finished as I started the second color on Friday. It's not terribly exciting but slow progress is being made. Whatever possessed me to believe I could knit one, let alone two baby blankets in 3 weeks.....yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. I am a terrible judge of my knitting time. Oh well. I'll get there. I plan to work on it a lot this week.

 

 

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. Hüj Tüb (laceweight - maybe that 100% lace cashmere I've had forever?)
9. 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

 

 

The boys started summer school this week. It's two weeks for the first session. It almost makes up for the time they missed from school since January, by being sick. Little Man wound up missing 14 days of school and Stormageddon missed 12 days. So, the extra 10 days of summer school make up most of that, at least. And it gets them out of the house in the morning. And around other kids their own age. 

Little Man is miffed with me because he has both reading and math, plus his cooking class, which he does enjoy. I think this past week they made pizza, muffins, ice cream, and a couple other things. So he does like his cooking class but he's not happy about math or reading. 

Stormageddon has three "fun" classes, which doesn't help Little Man's mood since he only has one. Stormageddon has an outdoor games class (tag, steal the bacon, drip drip drop, etc.), crafts around the world, and a mindfulness class. He seems to like his classes, which helps. 

I have to drive them in and pick them up every day, which isn't a big deal. Summer bus service would have meant me driving them somewhere anyway and if I'm already driving them in halfway, I may as well drive them all the way. 

On Monday, we got to see friends from California! One of Little Man's best friends and his family (mom, dad, older brother) were visiting and doing family things. They're not from Wisconsin but apparently it was a good midway meeting place as their family was coming from the East Coast and they were coming from the West Coast. In addition to that, the dad went to UW-Madison and his college bestie still lives here with his wife so they spent some time with them, as well. 

We met them at the Memorial Union on the UW campus for lunch and ice cream. It was ridiculously hot but we sat in the shade, which helped.

There was also hotel swimming involved after lunch. Little Man's friend was trying to reeducate Stormageddon on how to swim and it was super sweet and cute. There's video involved. 

Stormageddon decided he needed a UW hat (seen above) as well as a new UW shirt. On Tuesday, he looked the part of a true Wisconsin boy.

The red shoes are also new, but they are supposed to be for his suit. ::sigh:: He likes them so I'm not going to discourage wearing them. But he definitely fit in on Tuesday.  

By the time Friday rolled around, the boys were ready to be just done for the week. They both got their Covid boosters after school, followed by lunch at Rocky Rococo. Friday night, I took the boys outside to do something neither of them were able to do in California: catch lightning bugs. California doesn't have them. Well, the Bay Area doesn't have them. But they are everywhere in Wisconsin and the boys had never seen them. So, around 9:30pm on Friday, I took them outside and they caught lightning bugs (and let them go). 

In addition to that, Husband has been tilling the marsh area. We mowed it but it's got ruts and has grown uneven due to decades of neglect. So, Husband thought tilling it would help. So he spent time on the tractor with the tiller attachment and then we put the flat-roller on to help flatten it out. The next step is raking it with the thatcher (her name is Margaret) and then using the spreader (her name is Mrs. Cartman) to do weed & feed as well as grass seed. So, we'll see what happens. The birds are happy because worms. I also had to help because the tilling dug up things like large rocks. I didn't want to be out there in the heat dragging rocks up but it needed to be done. 

Oh, how about a bee update: 

I checked the bees on Thursday, after two weeks. I'm a bad bee mom. But it's been so hot that the last thing I wanted to do in 90ºF was put on the bee suit and go out there. So, it was two weeks between checking. 

The hive that Stormageddon painted is still having an issue with ants. I swept them off the hive as best I could and put down some more DE (diatomaceous earth) around the hives. I'll need to do it again because it rained yesterday, but that's fine.

I also found something......odd. In the hive that Little Man painted, I found this:

It's obviously honeycomb but I didn't know if it was something invasive because the larvae were just hanging out. So, I tried to research but I kept coming up with wax moth larvae, which this wasn't quite right...so I wound up sending a photo to Capital Bee Supply, where I bought everything, and asked them. 

Turns out those are drone larvae and are supposed to be there. Anything overhanging the frames can be scraped off or left alone, it's my decision. So, I scraped some off but left most of it alone. 

As long as it's not wax moth larvae....

Other than that, there hasn't been much else happening around here. I'm going to be packing this week for our trip, the boys have another week of school, Puppy has a vet appointment, and a few other things are happening around here. My next post will be brought to you from San Francisco (if I post next Sunday). And I may not post the week after. We'll see how things go. We are going  on a cruise, finally, from San Francisco to Alaska with my in-laws and the boys. So, internet will be spotty and that's all I can say about that. 

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