Striped Socks

Before I went on my yarn diet, I had one last hurrah at Knitpicks and purchased some Felici self-striping yarn.  It is made from my favorite base of sock yarn - Knitpick's merino/nylon blend; their new name for this is Stroll in solid colors, Felici for the striping yarn and they also have a bare version which Winter has dyed up for me in the past.  I'm not affiliated with Knitpicks, it is just my favorite sock yarn!

I knit the socks toe-up and two-at-a-time using magic loop.  They were very fun to knit because I could really see my progress every few rows when the color changed.  I have another pair's worth of this yarn that I'll be casting on soon.

This is 1st of 10 pairs of socks for my new year's resolution.

100 Balls Knit up in 2009!

I did it!  I knit up 100 balls of yarn in 2009.  Remember, when I started this challenge last November because I thought I'd need to cheat in order to make it to 100?  Well, turns out I didn't; I finished knitting my 100th ball of 2009 last night!  YAY!  I'm definitely doing this again next year. 

Looking back at how I did with the challenge, I have to admit, knitting with 2 or more strands is clearly the key to success here!  Not only does it use up stash faster and create a thicker fabric faster, it also creates absolutely beautiful colors and fabrics that are indeed quite a surprise! 

  

Also, I remember not knitting much at all for about 3 or more months during the spring and summer - I'm sure if I had knit during that time, I'd have reached the 100 balls goal even faster!  I'm debating whether or not to up my goal from 100 to 120 or 150.  I am planning on doing more lace knitting next year and that certainly takes much longer than knitting with worsted weight or something else.so.maybe I should stick to 100 for now. 

Something else I noticed last night as I pulled out the Malabrigo worsted from it's bin: I don't have to force down the lid of that bin to close it anymore.  In fact, I see open space at the top of the bin! I'm getting there, folks!  I'm getting there!

I just had an idea about the malabrigo set I’m going to be making in this yarn:

I want to make a hat, scarf and mittens set but am thinking that the variegated colorway might be too much for my head.  So I had an idea: I make the scarf and mittens in this color and get a skein of solid color malabrigo worsted for the hat; then I’ll run around the rim and flaps of the hat with the variegated so it’s a nice pop of color and the whole thing looks like a set but isn’t like “WHOA!  What’s that on her head?!?”

Last night's adventures

I gave Ruth the handspun and she absolutely loved it!  we were brainstorming ideas of what she could knit with it and I suggested a small triangular shawl…you know, like the kind I want to make when I end up plying that orange handspun (both bobbins are now full so only the plying remains).  So at some point I’ll be going over to her house so we can go on ravelry and find a pattern she likes.  

Winter brought some more of her handspun fresh off the niddy noddy and omg, she is turning into an amazing spinner!  Her third skein ever is so beautiful – even I can’t spin that well yet!  If she posts pics of it to her blog I’ll link it here so you can all admire the pretty!

The next thing I’m spinning is that beautiful chocolate brown alpaca blend I got from Rhinebeck.  As you can see, it is a floofy bag so spinning it up will free up a lot of space!

I also finished something yesterday with Ruth’s help:

 

This scarf was supposed to be for the OFA charity but I love it so much that I decided to keep it for myself.  I cast on another scarf last night using some more rejects from their originally intended projects but after knitting about 4 inches, I fell in love with that one too! ::sigh:: so I had to put that one aside as well and will finish it later when I have more time.  

 

I started a second scarf last night and this one I’m determined not to like!  Though I may have to rip out the 1.5 inches I accomplished last night to switch to a bigger needle.  I’m very happy for all the stashbusting happening though!

Lastly, I bought Heather dinner last night so she would sew in ends on all the washcloths for me! Yay!  So now I’ve got a large stack of squares ready to go.  WOOT!  Thank you Heather!

25 FOs to Pleo

I've found my reward!!!  So I've got to finish 25 things (including spinning) to get myself a Pleo!  Starting point is Rhinebeck so I've finished 2 things so far: the granny squares blanket and 1 skein of handspun.

A Spinning Weekend

Because I was sick this weekend, I spent most of it in front of my tv but there is only so much knitting I can do at a stretch.  So I opted to spin a lot - apparently that one I can do forever!  LOL.  I finished a skein of superfine merino (4 oz, spun up to approximately 360 yards so it is a fingering to heavy fingering weight yarn):

 

This is going to be a thank you present for Ruth for helping me with the blanket. It is a 2 ply yarn and it took surprisingly long to ply.  I did it on my spindle (really need to install the plying head on my wheel) so it took all day.  The yarn has come out beautifully and has got to be my most even yarn to date.

The next one I've started working on is a wool/bamboo blend from Creatively Dyed.  I've already finished 1 bobbin full (told you I spent the whole weekend spinning).  In roving form the colors are very bright orange but it is spinning up to be a beautiful dull orange/gold which I absolutely love!  It also has large splashes of dark brown so I could not be happier.   I think this is going to be turned into one of those small shawls knit with sock yarn that have suddenly become so popular.

Speaking of small shawls - I'm not knitting that for my grandmother after all.  At some point last week I just started reaching into that bag of cotton yarn I have and started knitting dishcloths and knitting dishcloths and ... knitting dishcloths.  I've got a nice little pile going and i think i'll join them all together with the cone of cotton yarn to make a lap blanket for her.  That way it can be machine washable, does not have to be blocked, won't be too warm and I'll have used stash yarn instead of buying new yarn so perfect on all counts!

Now I know I promised a picture of the blanket but it has still not been washed and blocked.  I didn't get the Eucalan last week because Terri hadn't printed out the gift cards to the store yet.  I hope they are ready by tomorrow because I really want to get started on knitting that hood as well (it hasn't gotten cold yet but it will soon enough).  So no picture for now.

WIPs Planning and Goals Update

The blanket is finished!  I will put up pictures as soon as I've washed and blocked the blanket (so probably later in the week).

I've been thinking about the number of WIPs I have and how that keeps me from focusing and more importantly finishing the projects.  So i was considering the idea of using slots for WIPs:

Sample knitting: Basketweave sock
Sock: nothing at the moment (using the slot for OFA scarf)
Whatever: Aeolian shawl
Long-term: should be the barn raising blanket (using the slot for the cashmere scarf)

I don't know how practical this method is or how much it will help me focus but I'm going to try it out at least for this month.  BTW, that Whatever slot may get changed to the Aram sweater in case i want to try for NaKniSweMo still but since its already 10 days into the month and I don't see myself having to time to even attempt to cast on the sweater until the weekend, this may not happen.  I may just stick to my original goal of at least casting on the sweater this month.  Speaking of which, here's an update on my goals:

1) Spin up 1 skein of yarn (Gift) - finished one bobbin and about half way through on the second bobbin
2) Finish the granny squares blanket - FINISHED!!!!!
3) Finish OFA Scarf  - working
4) Finish the Edging Setup chart on Aeolian Shawl

Bonus Goals:
1) Start the Aran Sweater
2) Finish Cashmere Leaves Scarf - working
3) Finish 1 skein of the meriboo fiber

Reward System

I'm a fairly active participant on the Stash Knit Down group on Ravelry which is, as the name may indicate, a group of crafters who are choosing (or attempting) to stash dive as much as possible into their many different stashes (yarn, fiber, fabric, beads, etc.).  I've joined the "100 Skeins in 2009" challenge on this group which I've discussed in the past and am currently tracking on the sidebar of this blog. 

Well, I also like to read threads other than the challenges I'm involved in and have been reading the fabric stash down thread; one of the most recent things being discussed is a reward system.  Now this is certainly not some new system that I've never read about but this particular post struck me because the writer said that she would reward herself after she finished "6 or maybe 10 projects".  Whenever I've read about reward systems its always been an amount of accomplishment that I never felt was sufficient so I would dismiss the whole system or wouldn't stick to it.  DUH!  How obvious is it that you can set how much you would like to accomplish before allowing yourself the reward!  I have no idea why this never clicked in my brain before but it has this time!

I think that at the rate I'm going with my projects, if I tell myself that I will give myself a treat after 10 projects - that's a huge accomplishment!  I can use the Rhinebeck trip as a starting point but I have no idea what my reward would be.  Considering the severe storage space issues I'm running into, I've actually LOST the desire to buy yarn or fiber!  My shopping mojo is gone.  I need Yarn-Viagra!  I suppose though, my reward does not have to a crafting thing, it could be something entirely different.  I'll think about it though and in the mean time, i'll let the reward system motivate my to finish projects.

Speaking of finishing...does this look like two strips of the blanket sewn together?!?  :::gasp:::

WIP Control

Oooh the WIPs are getting extremely out of hand! I've got way to many things going and nothing finishing!

The oldest WIP of all is, of course, the blanket which is going to be about a year old soon. It is almost done, 6 out of 10 strips have been sewn. Once the strips are done, they will have to be sewn to each other and finally the border. I'm concerned about running out of yarn for the edge; fortunately, I received a very generous gift certificate to Knitpicks for my birthday so I can order more if need be.



A couple of the newer WIPs are the recently started scarves:

Cashmere Leaves - being knit with the cashmere I purchased at Rhinebeck.



OFA Scarf - this is stash yarn, the bamboo yarn that i'd gotten in hopes of knitting an accessory scarf but honestly, who knits accessories in such a drab color! I'm also holding a strand of some sock yarn from Sunshine Yarns along with it to give it a beautiful splash of color.



Then there is of course the Aeolian Shawl, such a beautiful shawl but it has taken a back seat lately because of the blanket and all the spinning.



There is also the Aran sweater which has gone through a couple of transformations. First I was going to do the St. Brigid pattern by Alice Starmore but decided against it after MANY iterations of it failed. Then the yarn was stashed out of spite. I found an Aran Sweater pattern on the Lion Brand site and am considering it. The other option is to do the Wash's Sweater with this yarn but I need to check the yarn requirements and such for that pattern.

There is also the sample sock for the shop which I've actually made a bit of progress on. Though, I don't think i want to be devoting a majority of my crafting time to the sample knitting as I've got the overwhelming stash/lack of space issue to be worrying about.