Lucky Thirteen - Self-Imposed Year of Projects: Decisions Were Made (Updates #9, #10, and #11)

Um.....yeah. Decisions were made and some were made quickly and things just spiraled and here we are, three weeks later than I intended. 

So, let's talk about the knitting, yeah?

 

Finished Objects (FOs)
1. Irma Hat: started 23 December 2023; finished 15 January 2024
2. Baby Blanket: started 28 October 2023; finished 14 March 2024

The knitting is done on the baby blanket. I've even woven in the ends. It does need a wash (and it's in the line of things I'm laundering today). I also played a game of yarn chicken (and won!). 

I also found a dropped stitch. ::sigh:: It was too far down to ladder back up and have it not be tight or look weird so I wound up securing it with a length of yarn when I wove in the ends earlier today.

 

Let's talk about the yarn for a minute, though...I'm using Bernat Blanket (or Bernat Baby Blanket) and it's an acrylic. Now, I've been a bit worried about how this yarn holds up over time because it's a chenille-style yarn and that kind of yarn can be a bit.....unpredictable. I know it can get wormy and wiggle out of stitches and the fuzzy bits that are attached to the actual core of the yarn can sometimes break off, leaving a bare spot. Not specifically this yarn but chenille-style yarn in general. So, I checked in on the first two I made about two years ago. Husband messaged his coworker that received the first two blankets and he said the twins adore them, drag them everywhere, and they have held up very well. 

The only issue I ran into with this specific blanket was that my ball of pink (which was the main color) had several knots/breaks. I know the industry standard is like two per skein/hank of yarn but this one had more like five or six. I have a few random, mid-row joins from the yarn just having random knots or breaks. My saving grace is that the yarn is a solid color so joining the new yarn did not cause color change issues. 

And, of course, it's bigger than I anticipated....clearly I don't know how to gauge things even though I have made several of these. ::shrug::

 

Works-In-Progress (WIPs - these are carried over year after 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. Dishcloth: started 25 February 2022
9. Mixed BFL (Annie): started 18 March 2022
10. Lakeline Tank: started 18 March 2022
11. Socks: started 28 September 2022
12. Bonbon 2: started 15 October 2022
13. Star Stitch Shawl: started 8 June 2023 (link to the kit)
14. Vanilla Socks: started 7 October 2023
15. Rose's Wrist Warmers: started 10 February 2024

It's been three weeks. And I feel like I've actually accomplished a bunch of knitting. Aside from finishing the baby blanket (which was about halfway a few weeks ago), I have also almost finished the Lakeline Tank. I need to do the i-cord around the neckline and the armholes, weave in ends, wash it, and it's done. Of course I have not tried it on...I'm kind of scared. What if I hate it? I spent all this time on it and if I hate it I'm going to be super sad. We'll see what happens. 

Additionally, I worked on the Socks for Little Man. I think I'm still doing gusset decreases but I did work on them. They're shortish socks because his feet are HUGE and I really don't want to knit the usual 100 rounds of ribbing/stockinette (usually around 7" total) and then knit to fit his US Adult Male size 10 feet (approx a Euro 44, or just over 10.5" heel to toe). No thank you very much I love him to pieces but no. 

Also, I worked on the Vanilla Socks for me. I finished up the leg on the first one and am in the middle of the heel flap. It's been my dragalong knitting because it fits into my purse. The blanket and the tank are just too big for that. 

Hmmm......maybe I should have done more knitting?

 

OMGLSFWTFBBQ

Items for ME (FTW!)
1. Musselburgh (any weight - check pattern for details)
2. Danu Fingerless Gloves (fingering weight, possibly Koigu Painters Palette)
3. Stranger Things Hat (worsted weight, possibly Malabrigo Rios)
4. Wilf's Hat (worsted weight, probably Psych Ward Yarns)
5. Dumbledore's Christmas Socks (fingering weight, in Opal Dumbledore)
6. Antler Mittens (worsted weight, probably Knit Picks Swish Worsted)
7. Flax (worsted weight, Misti Alpaca Worsted)
8. Park Slope (fingering weight, Mountain Colors)
9. Fili Socks (finger weight, Holiday Yarns Flock Sock that I dyed)
10. Classic Octopus Hat (worsted weight, two contrasting colors)

Children's Items/Knitting for others
1. Flax Light for Little Man (fingering weight, using the yarn I dyed for him)
2. Pig for Earle & Duane (worsted weight, Molly Ringwald?)
3. Hippo for Sweet Girl (fingering weight, purple & pink of some sort)
4. Replacement toy for Sassy Girl (she's requested a cow so I'll need to see what I can find)
5. Hipster for Little Man & Stormageddon (DK weight, Anzula Cricket)
6. Regular Guy Beanie (Aran weight, Malabrigo Twist that I dyed)
7. Dandy Sir Cephalepod (any weight)
8. My Little Slug (worsted weight, any color)
9. Knitted Knockers (DK or worsted, neutral colors)
10. C*nt Dishcloth for Rachel (worsted weight, any color as long as it's cotton)
11. F*ck Dishcloth for Rachel (worstedweight , any color as long as it's cotton)
12. Santa Hat (worsted weight, red and white)

Utilitarian/Household Items
1. Pop Blanket (worsted weight, preferably superwash, Knit Picks Brava set?)
2. Holiday Countdown Stockings (worsted weight, bits and bobs)

Other Fibery Endeavors:
1. Stash Fit
2. Create a project bag inventory of some sort
3. Update library inventory (on Ravelry)
4. Update stash inventory (on Ravelry)
5. Stitch markers: make kits and individual sets for Etsy shop
6. Destash as necessary/needed (because I'm allergic to silk and I'm super mad about it but it is what it is...but that means the silk has to go and I'm still super mad about it......)

 

Last I wandered in here, I had mentioned that I was meeting with the surgeon about the forcible eviction of my gallbladder. 

Well, that happened. I had my appointment with the surgeon and my surgery was scheduled for ten days later. What should have been a 45-60 minute surgery wound up taking about two and a half hours. My liver and my gallbladder were basically entwined and my liver put up quite a fight. They almost had to do the full open to take care of it but luckily that didn't happen. 

So, between getting all my ducks in a row (who am I kidding; they're squirrels and they're at a rave), the actual surgery, stuff around the house, and recovery....yeah, I've been MIA. 

Stormageddon has been doing a lot of Legos over the past few weeks. We had friends come down and they brought Legos so we wound up with some Cherry Blossom Legos and Stormageddon also made the Mario Piranha Plant.

 

In addition to those Lego sets, I found the Stitch set at Costco so the boys and I worked on that. Mostly it was Stormageddon and I but Little Man and Stormageddon did a bag together, as well. 

We finished it the other day but I haven't taken a photo of it yet. We need to find a (safe) spot for it. I think we might put it somewhere downstairs but we haven't decided yet. But we know it cannot go upstairs by the boys' stuff as it won't stay in one piece up there. 

The weekend our friends were here, we went to the last University of Wisconsin Men's Hockey game of the season. It was also senior night. It was a good game to watch, even if none of us follows hockey.

And then there's the house addition. The siding is done (except for a few spots that need some finesse), so the outside looks ready. The drywalling and painting have been done on the inside. The pool area is white. The theater space is Star Wars grey, and Husband's office space is black. No, I'm not kidding.

The pool was also uncovered this week, now that the drywalling and painting is finished. It's been filled with water this whole time because we needed to make sure it settled correctly and that there wasn't something like an underground cavern that could cause issues. And that's not necessarily a fantasy around here. We have Cave of the Mounds just a few miles south of us and a lot of southwestern Wisconsin is littered with old, abandon, and forgotten mines. Sooooo....yeah, we needed to make sure things were okay. Given the pool is still in one piece, I think we're okay. 

This week I think the pool guys are coming to get everything hooked up there and get the filtration system going. And HVAC. And Sparky (commonly known as an electrician). We may have a fully functional pool by next weekend. Maybe. It depends on whether all the pieces fall into place properly this week.

We had a few days of nice weather, also. Of course we sent the boys outside to play. And of course the first place they go is the mudpile. 

It's hard to tell with the distance on this photo but the boys found my grandfather's old baseball bat in the front closet and they had a rubber ball and they were trying to play baseball. I caught this from the new deck area. 

Anyway. That's enough rambling right now. I think I'm going to go wash that baby blanket and move on with my life. I hope you've had a lovely few weeks. Let's see if I can get back on schedule!