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.

August Planning

Relatively shorter list than normal.

1) Seven charity hats for Ravellenics

2) Seven washcloths for Ravellenics

3) As many additional charity hats as I can complete before the end of the Ravellenics games.

4) Get darn close to finishing the cabled & dropped stitch cardigan as I can.

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.

June addendum

How could I have forgotton this?

I didn't post that I finished a little dog sweater/costume in June.

My son and his fiance have been talking about buying MY dog a Halloween costume / outfit that she could wear tailgating.... silly Muggles. Why buy when you can make it?

Here's my little Hawkeye!

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 End of Month Progress Post

Finished & Previously posted:

• Brioche Scarf
• One Charity Hat
• Double-Knit Hot Pad
• Bamboo Silk T

Finished:

• Felted Bag

Made with Kaleidescope yarn - very bright and colorful!!! I was going to give this yarn away; but I really, really wanted a felted (colorful!) bag for projects. I ended up breaking out in hives twice due to wool allergies and worked on it only in the evening so I could take benedryl to combat the allergies. I love the color on this tote!

• Secret X-rated Bridal Garter

No pics out on the web - sorry! Need to keep this secret until I can gift it at a bridal shower which hasn't even been scheduled yet. But look up PennyIA on Ravelry - and you should be able to find a pic if you're a member (and I know the giftee isn't).

• Second Charity Hat

Saving the pic space... it looks pretty darn identical to the last hat; only hot pink.  I was hoping for three more hats and only found time for one. Sadly. But, I've got high hopes for making up my charity hat knitting volumn for Ravelenics!