ELEVENTH Self-Imposed Year of Projects - What even happened? (Update #31)

 Happy Sunday! 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

I mean, honestly.....did you really think I am capable of finishing something when I've done little to no knitting? 

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 actually caught glimpses of a bunch of these projects on Friday. But only glimpses. I didn't actually work on them. Silly peasants. I don't actually work on projects, you know! 

But really, I did some work on the baby blanket and the Vanilla Socks (#11)....and that was seriously about it. I'm kind of boring this week, in case you couldn't tell. 

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

 

This past week has gone by in kind of a blur. Stormageddon had his second week of swimming lessons, which he loved. We're going to have to find him another session or enroll him in one of those year-round programs like we had in California. He loves the water. Swimming lessons in California were more of a weekly thing that you did year-round, for the most part. Here, they do small intense sessions where you go four days per week for two weeks. Sometimes you move up a level, sometimes you stay at the same level. Stormageddon moved up a level, which is good. I thought he had forgotten everything he was taught but apparently it just took some time with a coach to refresh his memory. At minimum, he knows how to float, which is important.

I don't even think I mentioned swimming lessons last week. Oops. 

If I remember correctly, the boys went out on the boat earlier this week. May have been last weekend. My days are a bit blurry right now and that's fine. It's summer. I don't have to know when everything happened. Regardless, here's a photo:

 

In addition to that, I had a dentist appointment on Monday. I have a bunch of fillings from when I was a kid that are metal and problematic (the expand & contact cycle can cause tooth degradation, which can lead to further damage of the underlying tooth). One of the fillings had actually broken and although it wasn't bothering me, we needed to address it. And there was one on the tooth next to it. So the dentist took both out and I've got a temporary crown on them for now. It's not the worst thing I've ever dealt with. At least my tongue doesn't hurt anymore. 

The boys and I spent some time in the garden this week. It sorely needed weeding, which I hate doing, but we went out and did it. We also picked some zucchini and some beans. My tomato plants are going crazy and we will likely have a ton of tomatoes. The cucumbers are growing well, also, but they're not ready yet. I think out of the 20 or so lettuce plants I planted, I have two that worked. And a couple beets. All the dill went belly-up and we got none, which is surprising as it's usually not difficult to grow, California not withstanding. The peppers and eggplant are still in an "unknown" stage. There are a couple plants but we'll see. Unfortunately, while weeding I had a rogue bee decide to get caught in my hair and she was less than pleased when I forcibly evicted her and tossed her away from me. She got mad and attacked (I thought she was dead already). She stung me twice before the stinger finally came out on the third try, all right in the same spot where she got stuck in the first place. So I currently have a huge welt on the back/side of my neck, which hurts and itches. It's also causing some pain in my jaw as the swelling expands. I know it's going to subside eventually but right now, it sucks.

We've also been busy clearing some things on the property. We cut down some branches off low-hanging trees so Husband could get through on the tractor. We also had this enormous brush pile from the previous owners, that we had been adding to. We finally got it all burned down and Husband was able to mow over the area. But first, he used a flammenwerfer!

You can see our actual bonfire area in the background but this was like a random pile of brush from.....something. I'm not even sure what all was going on with the brush pile. And of course, we added to it before we knew what was really in there. There were some sizable chunks of burnable wood in there, too...but it was mostly weeds growing up between everything and we just burned it down to nothing.

Oh wait, there's more! Lands' End has their headquarters and factory about a half hour away from us and every year, they have a week-long tent sale where they sell overstock, items that aren't quite right (seaming issues, patterned fabric not quite lined up straight, off-center monograms), returns from catalog orders, etc. for ridiculously cheap prices. The tags will read the original price and then their original sale price, which is usually 50% off, and then, depending on the day, there's an additional percentage off. Some items start with a different percentage but everything is at least an additional 25% off the listed sale price. I dropped a good amount of money on Wednesday but I picked up a bunch of business casual items for me, two swimsuits, a couple pairs of shorts/pants for Stormageddon, some shirts for Little Man, some dress pants and shirts for Husband, and a couple of those heavy canvas bags, neither of which were monogrammed, just "slightly off" though I can't see it. It's so grand that I'm going again today! 

We also had some excitement at our house. We have a creek that runs through our property and goes under the road out front of our house. A couple months ago, we got notice from the county that they were going to replace the bridge, which means the bridge was going to be out. Not a big deal, for the most part. Then the owner of the company doing the work asked if he could, essentially, rent part of our land to build the culvert that was going in and have a place to store it until the day they placed it. Okay fine, it's not like we were using the space for much of anything. On Thursday, they finally placed the culvert.

It was much bigger than we anticipated when the project started but, like I said, it's not like we were using the land for anything other than existence. So we have a spot that needs attention but they still have things sitting there that will be addressed this week. So, we've got that going for us. 

However, the bridge still isn't done, though they were supposed to be done on Thursday. ::sigh::

The big thing happening, though, is the arrival of Little Man's best friend from California and his older sister, who is Stormageddon's future wife. Stormageddon just loves the older sister and has since he first met her when he was a wee thing of about 3 years old. He calls her "my June" and it's adorable. And she just adores him (she's 15 and heading into her Sophomore year of high school). So we picked them up in Chicago yesterday. Just the kids. We have things planned, including the Lands' End sale today (for the daughter but I'll get some things for Little Man's bestie, too). We're going to Noah's Ark on Tuesday and we have plans to go to the Wisconsin State Fair, which starts Thursday, as well as a few other things. We'll see how things pan out. If anything, it gives everyone time to reset. The parents have not had more than 2 days away from their kids (where both kids were away) since the oldest was born. So they're getting full time away from their kids, the kids are away from their parents, plus they get to see another part of the country. Neither had ever been on a plane and aside from when the oldest was little and they moved from New York to California, they've never really been anywhere outside of California. So, some big changes. But it will be good. 

Anyway, that's enough rambling. I hope you've all had a lovely week and weekend :)