Lucky Thirteen: Life, kids.....life. It just does the thing. (Updates #28-#52). The end.

Dear Blog, we are still alive and kicking, though our time together has been far between (many months).....but we're still here. And we've come to the end of the year!

Let's see what's been going on!

 

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
3. Dishcloth: started 25 February 2022; finished 20 April 2024
4. Plain Hat for Little Man: started 20 April 2024; finished 1 June 2024
5. Vanilla Socks: started 7 October 2023; finished 27 August 2024
6. Dishcloth: started 20 April 2024; finished sometime in early October 2024
7. Baby Blanket: started 26 March 2024; finished 12 October 2024
8. Sockhead for Stormageddon: started 27 August 2024; finished 3 November 2024
9. Bonbon 2: started 15 October 2022; finished 25 December 2024

I finished up a pair of Vanilla Socks while Husband and I were on our 15th anniversary cruise to Mexico (without our children). That was back in August. I immediately cast on a hat, which I've also finished (but no photos yet).

In addition to that, I finished up a dishcloth (and immediately cast on another) and I finished what I hope is the last baby blanket for awhile. I hope. My bind off was too tight but to be fair, I was playing yarn chicken (I won).

I also finished up the toy that I've decided is going to my nephew. Seriously, all I had left to do was his face...and I finally did it on Christmas Day. But I didn't want it to be a Christmas present, as I didn't want his older sister to have a hissy fit (even though she's had her toy for a few years now). I might hold onto him until my nephew's birthday, which I think is in June or July.

Admittedly, I did not finish as many things as I had hoped. It was not a stellar year for my knitting (or spinning, crocheting, or any other craft). I'm learning to live with it. 

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. Mixed BFL (Annie): started 18 March 2022
9. Lakeline Tank: started 18 March 2022
10. Socks: started 28 September 2022
11. Star Stitch Shawl: started 8 June 2023 (link to the kit)
12. Rose's Wrist Warmers: started 10 February 2024
13. Danu Fingerless Mitts: started 5 July 2024
14. Vanilla Socks: started 14 October 2024
15. Bounce: started 16 October 2024
16. Musselburgh for Little Man: started 25 October 2024
17. Cow for SassyGirl: started 11 November 2024

Because I finished up a few things over the past few months, I started a few things. Most recently, one of the things I started is the Bounce blanket by TinCanKnits. I don't know if you remember the Sand Drift Blanket I was going to knit for a friend....it gave me fits and I wound up ripping it out and letting the yarn think about what it had done. It was not agreeing with the pattern and I was frustrated (no wonder my friend threw it at me and told me she never wanted to see it again). So, the yarn has been sitting for a hot minute. And then I saw the Bounce blanket a friend had made for her niece and I thought...."hmmmmm, maybe that could work." So, I got my hands on the pattern and cast on. I hate my cast on and I may wind up ripping things out to redo the cast on but I think this one may work out well. We'll see, I suppose.

I also started another pair of vanilla socks. I can't remember the yarn off the top of my head but it's got some blues and purples and browns and I'm just going to go with it. I needed something plain I could work on while watching movies and other things. 

Somewhere in there I started another dishcloth. That's my work-from-home knitting. It sits on my desk and I pull it out during breaks/lunch. Not exciting but it works.

Oh, and I started a Musselburgh hat for Little Man out of yarn he chose from Oink Pigments. I'm done with the increases and I've switched colors so I'm beyond the halfway point. As of now, I'm just knitting around and around and we'll see how it goes.

And because I'm a glutton for punishment, I started another toy. This is one of the "dog ate my toy" replacements for Husband's two nieces. And I was supposed to be on a time constraint. I didn't end up having to be on said time constraint, which is good because I'm juggling seven (yes, SEVEN) balls of yarn because it's two-color and knit flat so rather than carrying yarn and possibly being too tight, I'm juggling far too many balls of yarn. I've had to put them into ziplock bags to corral them. 

I did bring out one of my wheels (Annie) and spent some time finishing up the other half of the BFL that I started awhile ago. I was going to go ahead and start trying to ply it but I couldn't find my Lazy Kate. Turns out that I had taken it apart to flat-pack it when we moved and I hadn't put it back together. I recently found it and put it together so I could ply. Plying was not a fun time because one of the bobbins was super....tight, for lack of a better term. The one bobbin...fiber would come off just fine but the other one it was like I had to yank at it. But, it's mostly plied. I need to Andean ply the remaining from the first bobbin but I'll get there eventually.

Oh, and fairly recently, I finally made a decision regarding my Returning Shawl and I figured out how many stitches I was supposed to have, made it so, and continued on my way. So right now I'm working on the first lace section. It's a slog, though...takes me about a half hour to do one row, maybe longer.

In short, there has been knitting and some spinning...I'm trying to keep it going but some days I just don't get to it. It happens. But I'm trying.

 

OMGLSFWTFBBQ

Items for ME (FTW!)
1. Stranger Things Hat (worsted weight, possibly Malabrigo Rios)
2. Wilf's Hat (worsted weight, probably Psych Ward Yarns)
3. Dumbledore's Christmas Socks (fingering weight, in Opal Dumbledore)
4. Antler Mittens (worsted weight, probably Knit Picks Swish Worsted)
5. Flax (worsted weight, Misti Alpaca Worsted)
6. Park Slope (fingering weight, Mountain Colors)
7. Fili Socks (finger weight, Holiday Yarns Flock Sock that I dyed)
8. 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. Hipster for Little Man & Stormageddon (DK weight, Anzula Cricket)
5. Regular Guy Beanie (Aran weight, Malabrigo Twist that I dyed)
6. Dandy Sir Cephalepod (any weight)
7. My Little Slug (worsted weight, any color)
8. Knitted Knockers (DK or worsted, neutral colors)
9. C*nt Dishcloth for Rachel (worsted weight, any color as long as it's cotton)
10. F*ck Dishcloth for Rachel (worstedweight , any color as long as it's cotton)
11. 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......)

 

We have hit the end of my Thirteenth Self-Imposed Year of Projects. Given how this year went, I don't know that I'll officially be back for a Fourteenth Year......I did not do so well this time around. I'm still trying to figure out the work-life balance and I'm failing miserably. Additionally, the boys are getting older and getting them to cooperate for photos (or anything, really) is a bit of a hot mess. When they were wee, it was easy to talk about their silly antics but now that they're older, they're not getting up to the shenanigans that they used to and it's harder to catch. 

Stormageddon hit 10 years old (the big double-digits) this past September. He's in 4th grade, and he's doing quite a bit better than he was when he was in 3rd grade. Little Man isn't so little anymore, as he turned 14 years old in November. He's in 8th grade and we just had the first meeting about going to high school in the fall. He's taller than I am, and his hair is almost as long as mine. He's refusing to get it cut, though I think he will agree to getting it trimmed, as he's in desperate need of that.

 
I believe this was the first day of school, so back at the beginning of September. Little Man is definitely my mini-me. Stormageddon looks like Husband. Lately, both of them have been into their gaming things but Stormageddon has discovered the "I Survived" book series (in graphic novel format) and he's been very focused on Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, both of which Husband and I were alive for (both occurring when we were in our 20s). Stormageddon got it stuck in his head that after Katrina, New Orleans would be gone....blew his mind when we showed him photos of himself in New Orleans when he was about 2 years old (we did a cruise out of New Orleans one year). Little Man has gotten into a couple of Japanese Anime series but the one that comes to mind is called "Jujitsu Kaisen," which I know virtually nothing about.

 

Other than that, we are just keeping on keeping on. I may wander back in here from time to time to see what's happening, do a random update....you know, stuff. I've been super lax about my blog lately and I apologize for that. I just can't get myself together. And now, it's February. FEBRUARY! I wish I were joking. 

I finished up Little Man's Musselburgh hat and it's currently drying and I promptly started another one in worsted weight for Stormageddon. So I've got that going....but that was not in 2024, hence why I didn't update the information at the top. We'll see how things go. Maybe I'll hop in and out, less pressure and all that. 

Hope you've enjoyed the journey. We'll see how it goes!