Modular Mania

This weekend I pulled out one of the WIPs left over from 2010 and started working on it again. Below is a photo of the finished pieces so far. I cringe every time I think about weaving in all those ends. This is going to become the Koigu skirt from the Fall 2005 issue of Vogue Knitting. I am not making the floor length version as I don't think I would wear that very often. I will only be making 4 of the 6 rows of hexagons. Each row consists of 9 hexagons, so I'm just shy of 1/2 done with the pieces. Tonight I started joining the first row of hexagons and did a bit of weaving in of ends.



I've become completely obsessed with the sock yarn blanket. I have to force myself to put it away and work on other more pressing projects. I added my first large square last night. Lots of ends in this project too, but I've been weaving them in every so often on this one, so it's not as out of control as the skirt.



It's 14 squares wide, which so far seems to be a good width. I have a lot (read several baskets full) of sock yarn scraps, so this will keep me busy for some time to come.



I dug around in the stash and found yarn appropriate for the new glove pattern Paul picked out. Paul approved of the colors so I worked on the cuff of one when he was out of town. Texted him a photo of it to make sure he still liked it, and once he agreed that he did indeed still like the colors and pattern, I got down to business. Last night I finished the first glove to the point where the fingers will be added. Today I finished the second to the same point. Adding fingers to gloves is not my favorite thing to do, so work will slow on these now. I am hoping to add one finger every day and have these done in another week or so.



Did a bit of crochet this week too. Finished section 3 of the Babette blanket and got it seamed to the main piece. I've also finished a few of the pieces for section 4 and hope to have that finished up and added to the main piece next week.

Hello ...

is anyone still checking this blog to see if there are updates? I know it's been forever and an age, but hopefully I'll get back in the habit of updating.

I've finished quite a few things since I last updated, so this post will be chock full of photos. Got on a sock kick for several months and have a whole new wardrobe of socks, plus a bunch more still on the needles. As bad as that sounds, I've actually gotten much better at finishing projects I start before starting new ones. Not that I don't still start the occasional new project on a whim. And not that I've gotten any better whatsoever at finishing up all those WIPs I've had sitting around forever. Hoping to rectify that with my newfound project (sort of) monogamy.

A co-worker is expecting her first baby, so I couldn't resist making this adorable personalized blanket. It worked up in no time at all. I've always been able to crochet much faster than I knit. Isn't it adorable?

Five pair of socks finished since I last posted. Not sure what's with the sock craze, but I'm putting quite a dent in my sock yarn stash.

Knit up a Modern Lace Henley in record time too. More stash yarn used up to make this. It's knit up in Silky Wool and is super comfy. Perfect for spring and fall.

And now on to some newly started projects. Saw a book in my LYS and fell instantly in love with nearly every project in it. The Enchanted Sole is filled with wonderfully beautiful and fanciful socks. The first pair I cast on is a gorgeous stranded colorwork concoction called Tree of Life. I am using yarn purchased from a local dyer/spinner (Laughing Rat - look her up on Etsy). The darker blue/purple yarn is 100% merino, and the lighter pink/orange is a merino/bamboo blend. The resulting sock is quite decadent and I am absolutely thrilled with it.

In keeping with the sock yarn knit off I seem to be conducting, I started a skirt made from Noro Silk Garden Sock. It is made up of ever increasing in size panels to create a pretty A-line skirt. I've finished one panel and have another almost complete.

Another new book purchased is Crochet So Fine. It is full of simply scrumptious projects all crocheted with fine yarn (mostly laceweight, but a few fingering/sport). I have a bunch of the projects queued up and couldn't resist pulling out some Mountain Colors Winter Lace yarn I've had for some time to start a lacy tank. More photos of this in the near future as I am quite smitten with the pattern at the moment.



Another project started since I last blogged (I think so anyway because I didn't see it in the last few posts and I'm too lazy to look further back) is the Zick Zack Tunic. Another lightweight sweater made with lace yarn. I'm using up more stash yarn on this project. The back is finished and I'm about 1/2 done with the front.



I am trying to keep my focus on 2 projects at a time to keep to finishing more than I start .... wish me luck!

Photo Intensive!

I've been meaning to post for about 2 weeks now, so I have a LOT of photos built up.

Let's start with the hurricane force winds that Ohio endured Sunday evening. Paul and I were watching a football game when it started. We had to close the bedroom window because the winds were blowing things around! Then the lights went out. Uggggg no more football.

Paul had to go out back to try to secure our back porch awning. The wind ripped part of it off and it was flapping around making all kinds of noise. I was afraid a good gust would pull the whole thing off and it would go flying around the neighborhood and hit someone.

Next thing you know, crack CRACK BOOM BOOM. I ran to the front window and couldn't believe what I saw.



Look how close that limb (ummmmm that's the understatement of the year, both of them that fell were as big as some of the trees in our neighborhood) came to the cars. Both cars were brushed by the smaller limbs, but no real damage to either. The Caddy has a couple of scratches on the bumper that we feel pretty sure will buff out, and the Lincoln came out unscathed.





Here is a view from across the street which shows the size of these things a bit better. You can't even see our whole house or either car in this shot.



And my favorite shot of the size is Jenn goofing off. We have fantastic neighbors who went from house to house on the street. Those with chainsaws cut up the fallen trees, those without helped haul the cut pieces to the street. I consider myself very fortunate to live where I do. The city sent crews out to gather up everything that was piled up by the road ... high taxes come in handy at times like this.

Our electric was restored by 6AM Monday. There are still quite a few here in Central Ohio who are doing without power. Our office power was restored at some point last night and today was our first day this week in the office.

Now on to knitting/crochet projects. I've been inflicted with a horrible case of startitis this month, but I'm not doing a whole lot to get rid of it. I have a few goals to meet, and as long as my bright shiny new projects don't seem to be keeping me from attaining them, I plan to start whatever I feel like.

I discovered a great amigurumi designer about a week ago and ordered 2 of her patterns. Although this looks like nothing more than a black ball, it will soon be an adorable football player for Paul. I am doing him in the Atlanta Falcon colors, and will embellish him with Tommy Nobis' name and number.



One of the knitalongs in the Crochet on Ravelry group is the Turnberry Cardigan. I found some yarn in my stash (originally slated to become a skirt I have since lost interest in making) which worked up a great swatch, and will start on it in full earnest once the first of my September goals is met.



Speaking of the first of my September goals. It is now in sight and I am once again excitedly knitting away on the Lowry Pullover for my stepdad's birthday. My goal is to have it finished by 9/25, but it looks like I just might have it finished up this weekend. A few extra days off work did wonders for my progress!



Another newly started project is the Sweetie Pie Cami. Once again using stash yarn which had been sitting neglected in the craft room. It is working up quickly and should be done by month's end.




Yet another newly started project that worked up quickly is the Cable Car Hobo bag. It worked up so quickly in fact, that I never did get to post an in progress photo of it. I am inordinately pleased with the way this turned out. The embellishments on the straps are leather strap bracelets that I found at JoAnn's, and I bought some "charms" to add to them. I added a closure since I'm not so keen on having a purse that is so open all the time. It's not much, but the weight of the glass pendant bead is just enough to discourage someone from slipping their hand into it.








Yet more crochet. I've been on an amigurumi/toy kick lately. They are all so darn cute I just can't resist myself. Below is the first of a series of dragon projects you will see in my blog.



All my crochet projects are really helping to clear out the stash. Below is a project from Sensual Crochet ... the Rose Wrap Shell. The yarn coordinates with that I'm using for the Sweetie Pie Cami and hopefully the two will go well together. As long as I don't lose interest in the Shell weaving all those ends!



I had Paul get a photo of the Flickering Flames Skirt when I wore it to work. I really love this skirt and might make more lace skirts in the future.



As if I didn't have enough projects to keep me occupied, I fell in love with the Ravenna Satchel and bought yarn to make it. I can't wait until the Lowry Pullover is finished so I can really concentrate on this project. If you've never seen this bag, check it out at www.tinkknit.com.



I guess I've gone bag happy as well as crochet happy lately. Below is the only photo you're allowed to see at this point of the fabulous bag (even if I do say so myself) I made for the Great Knitted Purse Swap. I have photos to post once my partner receives her package. I just knew I was going to love this bag, so purchased yarn to make myself one too. Haven't gotten a photo of that yet, but will once I allow myself to cast on.



Poor little socks haven't gotten much attention yet, but they will soon. Only about an inch done on the Nutkin socks I am making for my mother's birthday. I'm hoping to have them done by 10/25 when we have a spa day planned.



And, last but not least, the Schoolhouse Dishcloth, which was the September Dishcloth KAL pattern.



I think that's it in the knitting bags beside my bed for now. And, if I'm lucky, I won't wait quite so long to post again. Organizing all those photos was a pain and took up too much precious crafting time this evening!!

Final post for August

This month has been very good for my WIP count. I have 15 right now, but at one point in August it was over 20!

Earlier in the week I finished the needle felted pot holder. Although I am pretty pleased with my first foray into needle felting, the obvious spiral look of the apple bothers me a bit. I tried asking in the KAL group if this was normal or if I was doing something wrong. LOL the answer to that question was more like an advertisement for the called for yarn in the pattern we will be doing than any actual help on the matter at hand. I guess I'm on my own! It doesn't look as fuzzy now since I got some batteries for the sweater shaver and defuzzed it.



Last night while rewatching Heroes season 1, I finished up the Tissue Tote I crocheted for my Great Knitted Purse Swap partner. Hey the purse needs to be knitted, but nobody said anything about crocheted goodies to go into it :o) Jen wants something like this now to keep her makeup in. Guess what got added to my Ravelry queue last night? Yep, a gazillion and one cosmetic pouch patterns.



Yesterday afternoon I finally finished the #$@%#$ picot bind off on the Flickering Flames Skirt. It was finished blocking early in the evening and I can't wait to wear it to work! This one just seemed to go on and on and on and on. No matter how much I knit on it, it never seemed to gain any length.



And guess what I spent today finishing? WOOHOO the Russian Coat is finally off the needles! If you recall many months ago, I threw this thing in the craft room when the second skirt I knit turned out not too wide for the bodice, but not wide enough and too short. Bound and determined not to let this thing get the best of me, I refused to knit yet another skirt. Instead, I knit a ribbed waistband to both lenthen the coat and connect the mismatched pieces. I started with a k2 p3 at the bodice, decreased to k2 p2 for most of the waistband, then finally decreased to k2 p1 for the last inch or so. I can't believe something finally worked!



Now I can't wait for it to get cool enough to wear it. I deserve it after all that work :o)

UFOlympics day 12

I'm really not doing well posting progress during UFOlympics on a regular basis, but I get so little done on each project, you'd all get bored anyway!

The Aran Tree Skirt is over half done now and according to my handy dandy spreadsheet I only need to spend about 2 hours per day knitting on it to get it done in time :o)



You can't see a lick of difference between today's photo of the Flickering Flames Skirt and the last, but according to the aforementioned spreadsheet, I only need to knit on it 2 1/2 hours each day to get it done :oP



I didn't take a photo of the finished back of the Lowry Pullover, but it is done and awaiting the front to be done so I can add the collar. I've done quite a bit of work on the sleeves despite what the photo may show.



And I got past the tedious cabled ribbing section on the front.



According to that dang blasted spreadsheet that I keep torturing myself with, I only need to spend a measly 4 hours per night on this to get it done :0/

Yes, my friends, that's a whopping 8 1/2 hours per day to complete my declared projects! Since there is only so much time I can make up on the weekends, and I can't possibly knit until 3AM each night and still get to work by 8AM bright eyed and bushy tailed, I sincerely doubt I'll be getting a gold.

Oh well, at least I should finish all 3 projects before the end of the month and that will bring my WIP count down to 18.

I'd chat more, but I really need to get cracking on that 8 1/2 hours of knitting I have ahead of me tonight LOL.

UFOlympics day 3

I had planned to post my progress every day for UFOlympics, but obviously I missed the first 2 days. I really have my work cut out for me. What the blooming blazes was going through my mind when I declared not just 1, but 2, less than 1/2 done big projects, along with the almost done one, is currently escaping me.


Friday night when I got home from work I pulled out the 3 projects to take stock of just what I had to do each day in order to finish all of them by the time the Olympics were over.

Ummmmm remember the Lowry pullover?

This was the state of it when I picked it up during the opening ceremonies. In order to finish it, I must knit approximately 5 inches each day.



Here is the state of it this evening. Not too shabby. This might actually be doable. Of course, this is the result of knitting many many hours yesterday and today. Unless I call in sick for the next two weeks I won't get this kind of progress again until next weekend.



A closeup of all that cabling going on. I was using those little blue/green/red plastic stitch markers for this, but they were digging into my hands and I thought a knitting injury would bench me for the remainder of the games. My wonderful hubby to the rescue. He actually went out in search of the soft purple and green stitch markers for me yesterday so I didn't have to give up knitting time to go shopping.



Remember the Aran Tree Skirt? This was the state it was in when I hid it in the craft room around March.



I actually had to figure out how many stitches were left in this one since it is knit in short row panels. Verdict? 21788!!! That's 1282 stitches per day in order to complete it by the end of the Olympics.

This is the state it is in this evening. Not much difference is there? As of this evening I need to knit about 1700 stitches on this per day to complete it. Not only did I not work on it Friday night, or much Saturday, but I realized that I was counting Monday evenings as "knit time" and shouldn't have been, so the count has gone up dramatically.



Remember the Flickering Flames Skirt? This is the state it was in back in July when I quit working on it so close to having it done.



Although it doesn't seem like much of a difference, this is the state it is in this evening. I've knit 8 rounds so far, and need to knit about 2 per day to get it done by the end of the Olympics.



Why can't I count Mondays as "knit time"? Well, I don't think I've mentioned it here yet, but my daughter wanted me to take belly dancing classes with her as her birthday gift. The class starts this Monday, so I figure any knitting I get done on Mondays will be catch up on what I haven't gotten done yet.

I do believe I will only be able to finish up the skirt and have to be happy with a silver LOL.

More vacation knitting goodness

As promised, a photo of the Ab Fab Throw. I'm just slightly over 1/2 done with it and it looks like there will be plenty of yarn left to make the tassels. I've enjoyed knitting this so much I bought more yarn to make another. The next one won't be the diamond pattern though. It will be the scallops pattern, which at first glance looks to be feather and fan. I didn't invest in Colinette yarns for the next one. Picked up similar weight and texture yarns that were on sale at JoAnns when I went to get the tunisian crochet hook I needed to make the La Mer Scarf.



I'm really getting antsy to have the Flickering Flames Skirt finished. It seems to take forever to complete a round though. I'm beginning to think it won't be done in time to wear this year. But, I do love the way the pattern is looking!



Sure doesn't look like another 32 rounds is going to make it long enough does it? I may try blocking a portion of this before binding off to see if I need more length.



Another repeat completed on the Moorish Stripe socks today. I love fair isle socks. I seem to knit them so much faster than any other pattern.



As I mentioned in last night's post, I did rip out the La Mer Scarf and start over, leaving out the chain one at the beginning of each row. The pattern goes so quickly I reworked what I ripped out and completed another repeat before putting it away.



Leaving out the chain one seems to have solved the wonky loose ruffly edge on the right, and blocking will resolve any residual wonkiness. Still haven't gotten my beads, which is a shame since I was 2 doors down from the store where I'll get them this afternoon. I'm still thinking blue, and may go get them tomorrow when I'm out. If I remember to bring the scarf with me that is.