December Planning

THERE WILL BE NO PLAN -!!!

But I do have the following on the needles that will get picked up and worked on as the mood strikes!

• OWL sweater - colorwork cardigan with about 10 hours remaining
• Brown Sweater (started in October) - about 40 hours remaining
• Mario Hat - duplicate stitching remaining - about 4 hours
• Teddy Bear - 90% of him remaining - about 8 hours of work

So, I wouldn't mind finishing the last two of those. But the first two will get finished to the last end woven in and trimmed - so that I can turn them in for future WIPtheFirsts.

Christmas knitting that I haven't started yet and will probably do this month... though if I don't there won't be anyone applying any guilt (best and only type of Christmas knitting I will do).

• Christmas ornaments for my family and Alex's teachers at school
• Red scarf for my future daughter-in-law

Since it'll be the new year around the corner.... there is also one last WIP that hasn't gotten a mention all year.... the hibernating project, the dreaded alligator. About 20 hours of knitting remains on him. And it's down to the nit-picky little bits. Not much to do, but it's all down to somewhat fiddly and fussy. But he's been hibernating for about 18 months and I would like to finish him. If I can get him to within 99% of done, he can be an AWESOME WIPtheFirst in the future.

I will pick out a blanket project, order yarn and knit a swatch for the New Year at some point this month. 

November EOM Progress

ARRRGGG! Again, I didn't manage to finish my OWL.

The Hat Time Trial followed by the enui that followed it, cost me. I knew it was going to be close and the OWL was the only thing I worked on for the full last week of November (sadly this includes housework, so, um, yeah - now I get to clean house today - lol!).  By Friday at noon, all I had left was the button-less button band. Approx. 93" of 22 stitches of K2, P2 Ribbing. I did 3" during my 30 minutes of lunch, getting me to 38". Which left me with 57". At 3" in 30 minutes, or 6" in 1 hour.... that would be 9-ish hours of knitting left... plus seaming and weaving in the final ends - so approx. 10 hours. I was only going to have 8 hours left before HPKCHC end of term.

SO CLOSE. SO DARN CLOSE.

But, if I wasn't going to finish, I wasn't going to stay up all night trying to finish.

So, instead... I tried to tackle some of my other class ideas.

COMPLETED:
1 mochimochi snowman

This took a LOT longer than I anticipated and I had a lot of trouble with it. I didn't have any fingering weight white yarn to use - so I used sport, but same size needles recommended (even though I'm a loose knitter -with the idea larger yarn would compensate).  It's certainly cute. And my son claimed it 2 seconds after I finished it. But I will most certainly NOT be making more like this. I might end up trying to see how big they end up with worsted weight yarn on size 3... but if it's as fiddly to start as this is? I probably will come up with a different ornament to make for my son's teachers at school.

Previously posted:
41 hats
2 cowls

ON THE NEEDLES:

My so-close OWL
This is a shot of the body being blocked pre ends woven....

Here's a close up on the colorwork, for a night shot, it's actually somewhat true to the color.











The Mario Hat (hat is finished, just none of the duplicate stitching yet):

And lastly, one little leg (all alone) of a teddy bear:

I also had my TKGA Master Knitter Level 1 hat to start... but it was 10:30 pm, I was tired... and that is NOT the time to try to start a master knitter project.

I may sigh and whine about what I didn't finish. But, honestly? I got a TON done this month. I just need to remember that being a single mom working two jobs? No matter how cupper-crazy I may be, I have boundaries and it's ok. Because... lookie what I did get done!  Seriously? I have a lot to be proud of, you know?

So, my plan for December is to rest and recharge! There will be knitting. And there will be FO's posted. But they will be whatever they will be based on motivation and moments. And no official plan.

November - mid-month Progress post

Ugh. Definite lack of mojo going on around here. This past week has been disappointing.

But here goes.

I posted last week that I exceeded my goal of 30 charity hats and managed 40 instead.

My OWL?  I'm onto the sleeves!  I still have a ton of work to do and not nearly enough time.

FO:

Ancient Runes - Changed my mind to do an infinity COWL with my corn yarn.

A new project I cast on for History of Magic - in honor of the booby... A bulky weight cowl for a co-worker who bought a charity-intended hat and wanted a matching cowl. I used the proceeds of the sale for mittens and gloves for the clothing drive.  And of course, because it has to match - it's in a wool-blend which means I can only work on it for a little while at a time. AND of course, because it's a paid order - it's not going well and I've had to frog it multiple times - and need to frog it again... sigh.

Not started yet:

Muggle Studies - assignment is to craft something inspired by games - a Mario hat for my 9 yr old son.

Headmistress Challenge - create swatches on the knook.

Charms - craft something to reflect a favorite season - a handful of mochimochi snowmen

Potions - that stubborn old TKGA Master Knitters hat that I keep procrastinating working on.

Flying - craft something inspired by a flyer - teddy bear....

Yeah. sad, I know. I knew that I'd have trouble making everything I wanted this month... but I didn't expect so much trouble with knitting mojo after that hat time trials.

November Planning

DETENTION - November 1st

I started a hat for the class I teach on making these hats on Oct 25th (first night of class).  And finished on the evening of Nov 1st (last night of class).

Yes, I know - it looks just like a few others I have made. This is actually the 50th charity hat I have made this year (and I'm not even close to being done yet).


Defense Against the Dark Arts - Create something from your own design.

Yet another hat - same style, new color. Hope to start and finish tonight.

Then, I'm going to work on my OWL for the rest of the evening (Velvet Morning)... here's where she was when we left off a little over a week ago.

Sadly the colors are a little washed out in this photo. It's so hard to take a decent indoor shot and honestly? The weather hasn't been that great to try an outdoor shot.

But then ..... starting tomorrow.....

I'm going to dive DEEP into the Quidditch Hat Time Trials.

My goal?

Are you sitting down?

30 Adult Hats for Charity in 8 days. I have from the 3rd of November to the 10th of November. I'd like to do the bulk of them this weekend. And I probably won't work on anything else all week.

Then, the next focus will be working on the OWL. I have to finish it by Nov 30th... and there's 40% of a sweater to work on....so I will be busy!

I have NO idea if I will find time to do anything else... but if I need something to carry around and/or need a break, I will be working on the following:

Muggle Studies - assignment is to craft something inspired by games - a Mario hat for my 9 yr old son. It's crafted in two colors - then all the decoration is done with duplicate stitch afterwards, so it should be pretty portable until you are adding the colorwork.

Ancient Runes - craft with fiber containing a minimum of 50% cellulose-based fiber. I have some lovely corn yarn that has been itching to become something. I'm going to make a scarf for my daughter-in-law.

Headmistress Challenge - create swatches - I've been wanting to learn how to knook. And I can create ten sampler swatches that in the future could be seamed and turned in for detention as a scarf.

Charms - craft something to reflect a favorite season - I'm going to make a handful of mochimochi snowmen as Christmas Ornaments for my son's teachers for gifts.

Potions - that stubborn old TKGA Master Knitters hat that I keep procrastinating working on. It takes three colors (but doesn't specify which three colors) and the prompt is to craft something with a complementary color scheme.

Flying - craft something inspired by a flyer - I'm picturing a little girl in pigtails with her birthday balloons tied to the lawnchair getting carried away, but clutching a teddy bear. So now I can make a teddy bear that has been on my list for quite a while.

---

Yes, I know there's no way I'm getting through this list during the month of November.

There are a few items on this list that I need for gifts that can wait until December.... and there are a few items on this list that do not HAVE to get made at all, but that I'm eager to try to get to.

Basically, I'm going to be happy if I get through the Charity hats and the OWL. The rest of it? Just icing on the cake. And I'm pretty sure I can get through the pile of hats and the OWL as long as I make them the priority.

Half-finished sweater

Here's the latest shot of the not-yet-finished sweater.

I used a varigated or 'ombre' shade of the yarn to not be named for the yoke and a nice brown from KnitPicks Brava Worsted line for the body. 

I did end up extending the 'color' further down the body after separating off the sleeve stitches because I wasn't very happy where the line would have fallen. BUT then I chickened out and stopped when I finished the skein and didn't join a second skein in the ombre.

I'm hoping it'll still look fine in the end.

October - end of month wrap-up

Finished my Ambiette for Detetion - DONE

Quidditch food fight - Small steak for son - DONE
OWL - Velvet Morning - 50% done

Dye yarn for the gradient yarn for Fingering Weight sweater - Chromatic

(pre-October Planning) - Oct 6th -- turn this into Charms to get my yarn to blend in with my current rainbow colored stash

Herbology - Quick Hat #1 - DONE
Start (and hopefully get half-way through) said Fingering Weight Sweater (whole month) - For my mission of blending in with Muggles in the Order Mission

Start and finish - Avril in April (rav link) (whole month) -- still don't know what class this would fit into

Quidditch Endurance Challenge Ten baby- or preemie-sized hats for the Period of Purple Crying project - DONE
TKGA Submission Hat - Oct 13th -- still don't know what class this would fit into

Muggle Studies - Baby ball -- DONE
History of Magic -  Snowman stocking - DONE

Not previously planned, but what ended up happening instead:

 - Suede bracelet - turned in for Defense Against the Dark Arts (claimed it was a type of parasite that was trying to get into someplace dark and steamy like my child, but that we captured it).

 - Test Knit Hat - turned in for Potions as it was a nice gray with interesting texture and represented the smoke that comes from Skelegrow.

 - Finger Puppet converted a pattern to make an Ood from Dr Who. I turned this in for Ancient Runes as it bore a remarkable resemblance to the rune for 7.

Started but not finished:

 - Adult Yoke sweater

I just couldn't convince myself to work on the third sweater. I never did cast on. I went back and forth on picking a different pattern. I just didn't seem to be able to commit by casting on.   As it was, I only got about half-way through the adult sweater I finally cast-on in Worsted weight yarn.   Over all, I'm still quite pleased with my progress even if I didn't get started on my third sweater.

October - mid-month progress... with a few FO's

For quidditch, we were challenged to produce no less than 5, and no more than 10 items of the same object. I chose to make baby hats for Click For Babies campaign

These vary from preemie to newborn sizes - I started out knitting, but those were the tiniest. I figured I'd switch to crochet to get a little bigger sizes and hopefully less time to complete.

Next I wanted to play a little with some suede cord I had purchased ages ago. I'd seen some leather bracelets at the mall and wanted to try to make one for my eldest son. The pale beige wasn't dark enough for his taste, so I thought I'd keep it. But about five minutes post-completion, my youngest son decided it needed to become his.

This was a simple I-cord made with Berroco Suede. Simple, quick, and cute. I ended up turning this in for DADA - thanks to common room advice that it could be a parasite (lives inside bodies) that I've stunned.

I've made some progress on my Velvet Morning cardigan. I'm about two rows shy of completing the first pass of flowers in the chart. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this yarn. I love the pattern. I am confused by the chart as there's a red line indicating (I thought it did, anyway) a section of the pattern to repeat across and then there's a section past the red line that one would think would be how you finish out the end of the row. Apparently, it doesn't mean that. So, I basically have half a flower on one side. It's not the end of the world.

I did have to frog a few rows, as my first pass at the colorwork still showed a little puckering from the strands across the back being too tight. I went up to a size 6 needle for the colorwork and added in a little bit more due diligence to get the colorwork very loose... and it seems to be working out better. This isn't due to be completed until November, so about eight more rows to go next week, and then I'll probably set it aside for a week to get my homework finished.

Last, I threw out all my other plans for sweaters (for now) and have cast on the following sweater. It's a yoke-style raglan top knit in the round from the top down. I am using dark brown for the crew neck collar, then a self-striping  browns/blues/beige yarn for the yoke. When I divide the sleeves from the body, I'll switch back to the dark brown again for the rest of the body, sleeves, etc.  The brown is my first use of Knit Picks Brava Worsted yarn. The self-striping is the yarn-that-won't-get-named. It would be far too overpowering if I did a full sweater in it, but I'm thinking a colorful yoke with a dark brown body will be a good balance of color.

Simple, straight-forward, and great for when I need a break from focusing too much on Velvet Morning. Not sure exactly which class I will turn this in for, but I'm leaning toward Flying - and finding a heavily forested country/destination as inspiration.

I am rethinking (again and again) the third sweater I had hoped to start by now.  I'm looking at maybe making Jaden with sport weight Brava... so much knitting to do, so little time.

October Planning

• Finish my Ambiette for Detention - WIP the First, I hope; but the second will work if I can't quite get it finished.
• Small crochet item for fun for my Son - Oct 2nd - Food related item for Quidditch
• Get part-way through the colorwork section of the current project:  OWL - Velvet Morning (whole month)
• Dye yarn for the gradient yarn for Fingering Weight sweater - Chromatic
  (pre-October Planning) - Oct 6th -- turn this into Charms to get my yarn to blend in with my current rainbow colored stash
• Quick Hat #1 - Oct 6th -- turn this into Herbology for the "go-to" pattern that brings comfort
• Start (and hopefully get half-way through) said Fingering Weight Sweater (whole month) - For my mission of blending in with Muggles in the Order Mission
• Start and finish - Avril in April (rav link) (whole month) -- still don't know what class this would fit into
• Ten baby- or preemie-sized hats for the Period of Purple Crying project - Oct 10-26 Quidditch
• TKGA Submission Hat - Oct 13th -- still don't know what class this would fit into
• Baby ball -- Muggle Studies, I'm sure my dog will help me sell that this could also be used as a dog toy
• Christmas Stocking for Charity Auction - Pattern selected by winner (whole month) - Snowman stocking

So, one full adult sweater, a third of another adult sweater, plus half of a third adult sweater (in fingering weight, no less).

Plus 2 Adult hats.

Plus 10 baby hats.

Plus a couple of other small and not-so-small items?

Another busy month for me.

Plan on using stash for all but the Chromatic sweater. That yarn has been shipped, but not yet received. I am actually working from home today as it is supposed to be attempt number 2 at delivery.

September End-of-Month Progress Post

Finished items:

 - Washcloth (picture in mid-month progress post)
 - Tardis Kindle Case  (picture in mid-month progress post)
 - Brioche Hat  (picture in mid-month progress post)
 - Rose bookmark  (picture in mid-month progress post)
 - 12" blanket square

  - a's Sweater (a test knit out of the Yarn-that-must-not-be-named)

On the needles:

Two sweaters - the first I had hoped to finish for September (and it's OOOOH, so close, but did not get finished in time).

Ambiette in Caron Spa:

I'm hoping to squeeze in the last ten rows of sleeve two today and the two rows in the neckline, and the weaving in of ends... and get it turned in for WIP the First for October.

And my OWL project - Velvet Morning converted to top-down contiguous sleeves:

FO - a's Sweater

Amazing how fast boys grown once they hit a certain age.

This was made in that yarn that I won't be buying any more of.

It was a test knit and knit at a far tighter gauge than I'm used to working in. Figure it'll never wear out as tightly as it was knit.  This is a size 8 for boys... but honestly? The sleeves before joining to work in the round had to be 15" - so it's not much smaller than an Adult female sweaters I make for myself. Add the extra tight gauge and it easily had almost as many stitches as an adult sweater.

I'm probably going to be a little more cautious before signing up for more test knitting. Maybe ask some questions... it was good to try test knitting, and I wouldn't mind trying it again - but this sweater is almost stiff it's so tightly knit. Yet, in order to properly test, you knit to the gauge specified.

But, then again, it should be really warm, right?  So, all good in the end.

Pre-planning for October

I've been wanting to make a sweater similar to the Chromatic Sweater by KnitPicks.

Problem is that I'm allergic to wool, so I need to find a cotton or acrylic alternative.

Second problem is that I need to watch my budget and can't afford to spend a fortune on the yarn.

Third problem is that finding yarn dyed on a gradient, in non-wool, is not something that is easily found, let alone affordable.

I've decided to try to buy plain yarn and dye it myself.

Second issue is finding 100% cotton yarn in Fingering weight without spending a fortune for it. I needed about 400-ish yards dyed in a gradient and over 1000 yards dyed in a dark contrast base color at the same weight.

I found several options that would cost over $120 for the sweater, and still required me going through the dyeing process. That's more than I want to spend on yarn I can dye (and mess up). I couldn't find any gradient dyed yarn options at all, not even out of my price-range yarn. The exception was Wolle's Yarn - which I have used before. This is "ok" and definitely gives gradient, gradual color changes. However, it is basically 8 strings strung together (not plied nor spun together) and the color changes are implemented by knots placed periodically to change one string color at a time. I don't like the knots and the strings are difficult to work with. I wanted something else for this sweater.

I was online complaining about my budget issues and someone pointed me towards 'carpet warp'. I found 800 yard cones of 100% cotton in fingering weight (8/4 carpet warp) for under $8 a cone. I bought one cone in white for dyeing and 2 cones in a vibrant medium blue for the main color. Under $30 for the sweater and I should end up with almost 1000 yards left over which would be enough for a second sweater. I have no idea how 'soft' this cotton will be (or won't be) but it's cotton. If it's not soft from the cone, it probably will be fine with washing.

Next step is to buy the dye and another dyeing bowl (I only have three right now for dyeing). Cotton dyeing requires an acid dye which is NOT foodsafe. My bowls I use for dyeing are set aside and not used for cooking. I buy inexpensive pitchers from Dollar General for $1 each. I figure if it doesn't work out and I don't want to store them any longer - they are simple enough to toss out.  I do most of the pre-dyeing soaking in vinegar (which is obviously food safe) in a wash tub that I also use for cleaning.

I have FOUR main colors I want to dye out of the 400 yards I plan on dyeing - Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue.

Divide the yarn into the following sections should give me the gradient look I need for the sweater:

A) 70 yards which will be the darkest of the red - dyed in the red pot
B) 40 yards which will be the next lighter shade - which will spend half the dyeing time in an orange pot, and before the time is up get moved to the red pot to get a blended color.
C) 70 yards in the orange pot, that will stay in the orange pot for the whole dyeing period
D) 40 yards which will be the next lighter shade - which will spend half the dyeing time in a yellow pot, and before the time is up, get moved to the orange pot to get a blended color
E) 70 yards which will be the lightest shade - and in the yellow pot for the entire dyeing period
F) 40 yards which will start in the yellow pot and get moved halfway through the dyeing process to the light blue pot for a greenish (I hope) gradient between the yellow and blue
G) 70 yards which will stay in the light blue pot the entire dyeing time

70 + 40 + 70 + 40 + 70 + 40 + 70 = 400 yards. I'll probably add a few extra yards as I spool the yarn into each of those sections so I end up with more than 400 yards (because more is better than less when it comes to one-time custom dyed yarn. I don't want to run out.

I'll post pics when I have the dyeing day which will probably be the first weekend in October if things go as planned.  With any luck, I'll be able to pick up the dyes and vinegar for under $20 which combined with the cost of the yarn and shipping is still under 50% of the cost of custom-dyed yarn (if I could even find it).

September mid-month Progress Post

Finished Items:

First up - the planned washcloth (intended for a future exchange).

This was an unusual pattern (Rav link) that I really fell in love with while knitting. I didn't understand what it was supposed to do and it didn't make any sense to me. It's intended for two color - but since I couldn't 'get it' from reading the pattern - I ended up using a single color. I followed the pattern exactly and once I got to a certain point it finally clicked. I will be making more of these, though the next ones will probably have a solid color for the 'front' and a variegated color for the 'back'. There's a lot of density in this and it'll make a great washcloth. I'm thinking I'd love to make a blanket covered in these squares some day.

Second up - the planned hat (one of the two - probably won't have time for the second one):

Basic Brioche in-the-round; like so many other of my charity hats. I'm having the pattern tested now and will probably release this pattern in a month or two.

Third item? - I won a door prize on September 7th, for a Kindle Fire (which is cooler than cool even if it wasn't HD - which got released on the 7th - lol - nothing like technology getting updated faster than you can buy it).  Fast-track inspiration; and it got a case by the 9th. This was orginally going to be made into a pencil case, but you can see - it works far better as a Kindle case.

Fourth item? Again, another inspiration-struck-had-to-have.... a simple Rose bookmark:

On the needles:

First sweater started this month - set aside for a short bit so I could catch up on a couple of other projects was a sweater I'm test-knitting for my son to wear.

I've got about six more inches to go on the sleeves before joining them to the body and working the yoke. I've been carrying the sleeves around with me and got a couple of hours done on them during a Footie game this weekend. Hope to get more done this weekend and maybe even get the whole thing finished, shortly.  It takes a couple of buttons at an angle near the neckline - so I need to get hopping in double-checking I have buttons that will work with this.

Second sweater started this month - set aside once I got to the work even for x number of rows/inches.... it was my first ever top-down, contiguous sleeve construction. The pattern: Ambiente (Rav link) is extremely well written, and I would strongly recommend trying it for a first contiguous sleeve project. I had no trouble at all following it and am pretty pleased with the results. I'm hoping to pick up on this as soon as I finish my son's sweater - yet this month barring any unexpected complications.

Third sweater started this month (but this is going to be one of those takes-a-bit sweaters). I'm planning on this one not getting finished until November.

You remember this shiny, amazing yarn?

Well, it's turning into this (though the color is a little washed out in this photo):

I'm adjusting the pattern to working top-down, contiguous sleeved... and so far, I'm really loving it. I'm about ten rows away from dividing off the sleeve stitches; once I do that, I'll probably set it aside a little while so I can get back to the other two sweaters OTN.

Not started yet:

• AND a 12" Blanket square - pattern TBD

Not going to get started this month - the second hat... I'll have plenty of time next month for making more hats... so this is going to get sidelined in favor of the other projects I picked up and making sweaters.

September Planning

So much to do, so little time.

First up, a big project that I don't expect to finish until November.

Velvet Morning Cardigan - Rav Link

Made with custom-dyed yarn from Yarntopia Treasures with the base yarn from Knit Picks - Shine Worsted.

Stunning yarn. Shiny, lucsious and the color? just goregous.

Next the smaller (hahah) projects that I hope to finish this month.

• First up - a Striped Raglan sweater for my son - a test knit on Ravelry (so no pattern link). I'm using my favorite worsted acrylic - Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn... and it's coming along quickly.
• Second up - a short-sleeved sweater for myself - Ambiente - Rav Link made in a similar green to the pattern photos from NaturallyCaron.com Spa.
• Of course, there will be charity hats - hoping for two of them (minimum) - one of which will be my final item for my TKGA Master Knitters submission.
• I'm also planning a washcloth and/or scrubbie for an exchange.
• AND a Tardis pencil case.
• AND a 12" Blanket square - pattern TBD

I will feel more confident about this list once I get the first sweater finished and the second one started... and once I get one or two of the smaller items knocked out.

August End-of-month progress post

All I had left to work on was my sweater. Which was technically finished on September 1st... but I figured you'd let me post the picture of it completed in this post.

I love the cables:

But the over-all look is a little 'messy' (sigh). But not bad for a wing-it-and-see pattern. Fit is perfect.

August Mid-Month report

Relatively shorter list than normal.




1) Seven charity hats for Ravellenics - DONE

The first six are the same old, basic watch caps I always make.  These are headed for the woman's homeless shelter.

But the seventh one was a little more out-of-the-box. This one is baby-sized. We'll take it to the library this fall when they start collecting hats & mittens for the holidays.

2) Seven washcloths for Ravellenics - DONE! Though, I had just enough yarn left to make two extra. So I ended up with nine, total.

3) As many additional charity hats as I can complete before the end of the Ravellenics games. - Done! I ended up finishing off ten more hats this afternoon, almost 24 hours before the end of the games. I am kind of tired of hats, though again now.

I wasn't quite done with my knitting for Ravellenics, though. I had received the following cotton chenille yarn as a gift from a dyer - and thought about making a scarf. Tried a couple of different stitch patterns and a couple of different styles. And then it ended up wanting to become a big, bulky over-sized cowl instead.

(I love the different pooling)



4) Get darn close to finishing the cabled & dropped stitch cardigan as I can.  -- Ready to pick this up and start working on it tomorrow. I should have plenty of time to get it to the 'almost done' stage. My goal would be to finish it officially on Sept 1st.

July end of month report

Well, the last couple of weeks were a complete bust as far as knitting went. I landed myself in the emergency room a couple of times and then surgery. But, am back on my feet and knitting again (finally) in August. Figured I'd clear the slate for what I did (and didn't do) last month before posting my plan for this month.

Sweater/top # 1 - Oceanna Shell - done & photos previously posted
Sweater/top #2 - Striped T - started late June - done & photos previously posted
Sweater/top #3 - Cabled Cardigan with dropped stitches. Still at the 33% mark - with no progress since mid-month post.

TKGA Master Knitter Level 1 - Swatches finished. But did not even get the hat started. I was working on my guage swatch when I got ill and pulled it out... will probably wait until September to tackle the hat again.

Charity Hats - completed only 2.
Seven Washcloths - didn't complete any in July.
Teddy Bear - postponed
Blanket Square - postponed.

So, considering the last ten days or so of the month was spent ill, I think I did a-ok.

July Mid-Month Progress Post

Finished:

Sweater # 10 - Oceanna Shell

This is the shell/top that I wanted to make out of Caron Simply Soft last month. I found a better 'brown' to go with the paint yarn that I wanted to use. The stripes came out quite interesting. This was a super fast knit!

Sweater # 11 - Striped T that I've been working on since the end of May. The ends? A complete nightmare. I tried knitting this three times before and carrying the yarn up the side, but I just couldn't get the edge where the yarns swapped to look right no matter what I tried. I decided to cut the yarns instead so I could 'fix' things when I wove in ends. Yeah. Oh, well. It's 'ok' - I don't 'love' the colors still. I shouldn't have even bothered, but I was having so much trouble finding 'good' yarn that I liked to work with that would work well with summer - and Patons Silk Bamboo is an awesome yarn for summery tops. I couldn't find sweater quantities, first. Then I could only find pastels. Since I bought this yarn and started this top ( and frogged it repeatedly last year )... I have since found some nice, deeper colors (like last month's top). Only those stores now don't carry that yarn anymore either... sigh. But at least I now have three tops out of the yarn I love, even if they aren't all in shades I love.  And - I might have enough for one more top stashed away still... depending on the pattern.

All-in-all - I also don't love the 'gathering' I have at the neckline either. This is a result of a bad decision on my part of altering the pattern to try to keep the neckline 'up' and knowing I was running out of yarn. As it was I ended up using white for the bindoff row (as I had six inches left of the tan after the last garter stitch row). I might end up frogging back to the last tan section and just working the garter stitch and bind off right there with the yarn I frog out.... the only thing keeping me from doing it right now is the fact that I'm still not in love with the colors. So, I am going to see about 'living with it' as-is until next summer and if I think I'll wear it more/like it better with the change - I'll do it. If not, I'm not going to bother.

Hat #1 for July (hat # 18 out of 40 for my 2012 goal) - no pic, it's black yarn and JUST LIKE all the others - lol.

On the Needles:

Masters TKGA Hand Master Knitter Level 1 - I have 14 out of 16 swatches completed (to my satisfaction) and have two swatches and a hat left to make for my submission. My hope is to finish the last two swatches and the hat either this weekend or next (preferably this weekend). And focus on the documentation in August with my goal of submitting it for review at the end of August. I have really struggled with the documentation side of things as while I tried to work on it while working the swatches (per recommendations) ... I just never got off the ground with it (sigh).

Sweater # 12 - Top down, raglan sleeved, white cardigan - covered in cables and dropped stitches. You will only be able to see the cables in the photos I'm posting - because the dropping of the dropped stitches happen near the end. Only about 25% complete (maybe a hair more) so I'd love to really focus on this as soon as I get the TKGA swatches and hat finished.

Hat #2 for July  - this is my 'carry around with me' project. I'm going to have a couple of hours a week (if not more) where I can't work on complicated projects... so I might cast on a couple more hats depending on how fast they go.

Planned, but not yet started:

Baby Blanket square - in red and gold for a Gryffindor baby... probably a mosaic pattern for a little bit of interest.

Teddy Bear - not sure yet the yarn, I'm sure I've got lots of options around the house and will go stash diving when I'm a bit further along on the cabled sweater.

AND THEN.... Ravellenics starts toward the end of July and corresponds to the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.  I have ambitious plans for that my dears. So, I really do need to wrap up the majority of my 'other' projects before it starts. I initially plan to do seven hats - one complex hat and six basic, same as every other charity hat I make. Then I plan to do seven washclothes (minimum of about 50 yards each). Then I plan to do as many more basic hats as I can squeeze out before the end of the games... I'm estimating 10, but I'll be happy with less and I'll be happy with more. They'll all just go into my Homeless Shelter Charity pile which is getting quite big.

July Planning Post

On the Needles with plans to finish during July:

Silk Bamboo Striped T - Currently at about 55% done.

TKGA Master Knitter Level 1 Swatches - Currently at about 55% done.

New Projects:

• Seven Charity hats
• Oceana Shell - this was originally planned for July; but the brown yarn I had picked up was a disaster in color match/mis-match to the Paint color I wanted to use for stripes. I had already completed a bolero in the paint color and wanted to make a tank to coordinate. I found the *right* color brown just before I left for vacation in June. Very, very fast knit on size 11 needles (awesome drape).
• Summery Cabled Cardigan - a co-worker stopped by with a picture out of a sales flyer and said that she thought I would look fabulous in something like it - and asked me if I could make it. Being the type of person I am; I read that as a challenge. Challenge accepted. I found some lovely summer Bam Boo in White; I am winging a pattern for a top-down raglan sleeved cardigan with half sleeves. There are six-stitch basic cables separated by a single stitch which will later get dropped (hoping for an open look and hoping that the six-stitch cables aren't going to over-power the garment). Framed with simple garter stitch for neck, waist, fronts and cuffs. I'm not going to bother with buttons/button holes as I would never button it. It'll be great for leaving at work to throw on when the air conditioning gets a bit too chilly.
• Teddy Bear - still need to pick out yarns.
• Baby Blanket Square - am going to use Gryffindor colors for a 12" square. I like working with two colors with mosaic knitting for these... but want to try a new pattern so I might have to do a little searching to find a new free mosaic square pattern.
• Seven wash cloths

Not a small list. Busy summer month ahead of me. But, I've got three afternoons where I'm taking my son for two hour tutoring sessions (should be prime knitting time) plus four days towards the end of the month with no child at home (which will definitely lead to good knitting time).

June Finished Sweater - Silk Bamboo Lacy T

I finished my purple Silk Bamboo Lacy T. I might not have added enough ribbing to the neckline; as it becomes a little revealing every once in a while with the slightly droopy neckline. I am thinking of coming back and adding a row of sc so I can 'scrunch up' the neckline ever-so-slightly.

But it's otherwise quite lovely. (shoddy pics; but a great top)

Color is more accurate in the first picture; but I didn't get a very good shot.

Here you see more of the top; but the color faded slightly.

I will be working on improving my photo skills.

Bamboo Silk - Yarn yardage concerns.

Sorry I don't have any pics of this just yet. But I put my head down and focused on making some SERIOUS progress on it this last weekend.

I finished the body; have picked up the stitches from the waste yarn and am working the sleeves 2-at-a-time... and I have about 120 yards of yarn left. Since they are short sleeves I'm thinking I'm going to be in great shape for this after all!

So, then I got to thinking about my other top made with Bamboo Silk. The striped T has been in a project bag along with it's yarn for about 14 months. The bag has been toppled and picked up, yarn has been scattered and brought back. It's been frogged a couple of times. I realized today that I started off this final attempt with  2 1/2 balls of beige, 1 ball of peachy/pink, 1 ball of white, and 2 balls of medium blue. So about 650 yards. Um... the pattern calls for about 900 yards in my size. LOL. Ummm... might be an issue. I was SO SURE I had the right amount of yarn when I started it ages ago... but who knows what I might have been thinking/looking at... or if the yarn got 'used' for something else when I wasn't paying attention.

The good news is that I have finished the bottom-up to the top part of the body to the place where you set it aside and start working the sleeves 2-at-a-time; then you join all three pieces together and start the decreasing to the yoke all the way to the neck. Which means that the rows are going to get shorter pretty darn quick. The bad news is that I have NO idea where/when I bought this yarn and/or if I will ever find it again easily if I run short.

So, just when I thought I had it figured out and was going to be ok on yardage for one top - the other one started making me nervous. I'm about two days out from starting my vacation... so my plan is to set this aside until I get home. Then dig around under my bed (where my dog frequently hides things she wants) and see if there are a couple more balls of yarn that she had 'buried' for herself. If that doesn't turn up anything - I'll keep knitting away and wait and see. Maybe I'll get lucky and this pattern and the yardage I have will work out in the end. Though, you can bet I might just keep an eye out for it on my vacation and if I spy any (with or without the right dyelot) I will definitely be snagging it!