This month's Third FO

Pattern: One Skein Wonder by Stefanie Japel
Needles: US 7, Knitpicks Harmony interchangeables
Yarn: MadelineTosh Worsted

I'm calling this, "Third time's the Charm!" since yes, it is the third time I have made this pattern and finally, I have been successful in making it fit. I added a simple yarn over lace pattern into the back, just in case I didn't cast on enough stitches. The first couple of repeats are a little wonky, but after I got the hang of it, things straightened out. I learned alot about placing a lace pattern into a garment.

Yardage for July 2009

So I didn't quite hit 2000yds, but I did knit more then a mile this month. July 2009 was a personal best. I still could have knit quite a bit more had I not been so distracted.

Yardage Totals for 2009:

January: 937 yds

February: 1286 yds

March: 1466 yds

April: 1093 yds

May: 909 yds

June: 759 yds

July: 1886yds

Total to date: 8336yds or 4.74 miles

I think I'll focus on reducing my number of projects on needles in August. It was nice to find a way to keep myself from buying massive amounts of "birthday yarn," but the result was 7 projects on needles. I usually have 2, maybe 3 on at any given time.

FO catch up

I haven't had the energy to blog my FOs as of late. Even though I am getting plenty of sleep now, I am worn down. Worse then I have ever been. I have a doctor's appointment on the 7th to start the process of hitting my head against the wall which is military healthcare.

Anywho. Knitting. FOs.

I have two to show off today and another that still needs to be photographed. I have yet another right on its heels. I've been pretty productive this month, despite giving into castonitis to curb any impulse yarn buys.

Pattern: Tie Back Shell by Connie Chang Chinchio

Needles: US size 7, Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeable

Yarn: Cotton Fleece

The first I'm showing was completed second: it's my Tie Back Shell top that I named my Sea Shell. Not the best picture of it, but I'm having an issue communicating what I want in knitwear pictures to the husbeast and he just doesn't *get* it. He either zooms in way too close or he wants to be way out. Someday, this will get resolved. Though, I knew even in highschool that he is not a portrait photographer; it's never been a strength of his.

Overall, I really like how it came out and I like the pattern. I had to tweek this alot and I'm not sure I knit any of the pattern as-written other then the belt. I made the skirt longer, the bodice much shorter, and none of the three components are the same pattern size. The armholes were good until I did the reverse single crochet trim and now they're a bit snug. (Two more rows of knitting per side and I suspect I would have been free of this issue.) I might have to redo them, but I'm going to sit on this for a bit while I contemplate what to do with the bow on the back. Even though I knit the Cotton Fleece tighter then the recommended gauge, the bow is on the floppy side and I'm having problems tying it in a pleasing manner. I'm thinking of doing some surgery and changing the back closure.

The only thing I would have done differently would have been to put in a horizontal bust dart like I suspected I should. It does ride up a touch in the front. I'm hoping with weening my daughter, that might be less of an issue in a few months.

Pattern: Lacy Baktus (ravel it)
Yarn: Squoosh Fiberarts Merino Cashmere Sock
Needles: US size 3, Knitpicks Options fixed circulars

This knit was easy and mindless. Great later evening TV knitting. No mods. Followed the pattern as-written.

Progress

I focused on my Tie Back Shell today and the front section of the top is finished. I have to knit the back, do some minimal seaming, and do some crochet trim on the neck and sleeves. Then it is done. I might have an FO before the weekend is over.

Very tired

But I thought I'd make a quick blog entry and show the progress on my mystery sock. The first sock is up to the end of the most recent clue.




So far, I'm really happy with it. Fun pattern, pretty easy to understand and follow. There was an unclear part about turning the heel, but I had enough sock making experience to realize what I needed to do and it was A-OK. I could not figure out the wonky increases and how to properly line them up with the stripes but EH, nothing that bothers me so much that I'd rip back to fix it. I'll try a little harder on the second one.

I definitely prefer working toe-up on socks. It's much easier for me to get a proper foot length and there's less guess work involved. I've also discovered I prefer a short row heel to a heel flap. Go figure. I currently have a pair of top-down socks on needles and after those, I think I'm going to look up the toe-up version of Monkey Socks to use the yarn I have caked for another pair of those. LOVE that sock pattern.

Now I have 6 days until the final part of the pattern is released. So I'm going to start work on the second sock and try to finish another project I have on needles in the mean time. I slowed down on my shell top but started to pick the pace up on it today; I'm hoping to focus on it from now until the weekend. I'm very close to finishing the front piece of the bodice and then I have to work the back. I'm hoping to have an FO post sometime soon with a couple of pictures.

More cast ons

Got together with irunnaked last night for a knit date at our local "book store," and we cast on for the July Mystery Sock together. Can't really call it a real bonafide book store as it focuses more on video rentals, music, and video games. The book section is rather small and limited. My kingdom for a Borders or Barnes and Noble store!

Anywho, had a great time and would have been better had we not had to listen to some pseudo-intellectual drivel the entire hour and a half we were there. Why is it that the people who are the most obnoxious also speak the loudest? I won't go into too much detail, but some of the gems of the loud conversation we could not help but overhear included feeling superior and oh-so smart now that they were in college, and man, everyone resents them now because they are always right and correct their stupid friends! Said the two people who could not go more then three words without using the word, "like," about 90% of the time. Another? Like, have you noticed that like in the 80's, like everyone used to dress the same and like, had to have the same car? Again, said by a young man who was wearing what looked like a tee shirt from Abercrombie and I'm pretty sure he was not born in the 80's. (There is apparently some movie mocking this concept. I don't think times have changed too much, kiddo, you're not exactly a unique snowflake either. Also, he did not understand what satire is. But not going into that.) And the last; I noticed that the male counterpart of this conversation kept looking over our way. My suspicions were confirmed when he suddenly said, "have you ever noticed they just do the same motion over and over and suddenly, BAM, they have a shirt?" Yes, I do believe that is how knitting works, Oh Observent One. Now shut up and drink your coffee.

I hope the next time we meet there he is not at the cafe. But no more about that, onto the socks!




So far, it's been a fast knit and my son loves the pattern. He keeps talking about mommy's "beautiful socks," while petting them, and my 9 month old daughter is also enamoured with the project. She keeps exclaiming, "ooh," as well as a baby sound suspiciously close to, "wow," and making grabby hands at them. Watch out socks, the baby's gunning for ya!

I'm a bit further along then this now, just finished the increases for the gusset, but I wanted to work on other projects as well. Right now, I have more on needles then is usual for me. For some reason, it just feels right for July and I'm picking and choosing what I want to work on based on the day. I'm slowly making progress on my Sea Shell top. I've divided out for the front and back and am a couple of inches above the bottom of the armhole on the front piece. It won't be too much longer and I'll be shaping the neckline and finishing up. I haven't wanted to work on the lace too much with as distracted as I've been, and stripes on socks are a bit more fun. Especially in Robin's Egg Blue and a Berry Red.

Not dead

Just knitting like a mad woman after finding the "export to Excel" function on Ravelry's stash page. I have 26 miles worth of yarn. Holy cow, it's a yarn marathon! And not ESK's which is of a wholly different nature and spirit. My first weigh in for this month's Snob Diet was Wednesday and I weighed in with 564yds for the week. That is either a personal best or it's pretty darn close. I'm hoping to keep that pace up all month, so I'll likely be scarce. I've already made a good start for the week by finishing up my scarf--pictures later when my photographer gets home and I weave in the ends--and giving myself 150yds for yesterday alone. If I can resist the siren call of the internet, I should be able to hit 2000 yds this month easy peasy. (Scary thought: at the rate of 2000yds per month, it would take 13-14 months to knit up everything I have currently stashed.)

If I can, I'd also like to keep that pace up for August, so that by the time my 1350yds or so of sportweight from Sundara arrive, I've used up more then three times what is coming in. I've decided that if I have to stash enhance, it must be to a much smaller scale then what I'm knitting up, or else I'll go from where I am to much more. Very much like real life yo-yo dieting.

Anywho! Today, I've gotten back to work on my Tie Back Shell and am well into the lace section. I'm hoping to make a huge dent in it this weekend with DH home to help again. While I'm not going to hold my breath, a couple of days of solid knitting would finish it up and I'd be looking at two FOs with half of the month left to go!

July is already making me feel like a rock star.

Picture heavy: thinking out loud

It's no secret I have a large stash of yarn. It's also no secret that I'm attempting to reduce the amount of yarn I have in stash and get to a more manageable amount: an amount worth 5 or fewer projects plus a few skeins of sock yarn. (Since I'm mainly a sweater knitter, that's still a lot of yarn.)

Another non-secret? I have a hard time resisting Indie dyers, especially a few particular ones. One was having a Limited Edition posting today and for the first time in awhile, I wanted 4 or 5 of those colors very badly. Something in me started making desperate grabby hands and pleading to own this yarn. ALL of this yarn. The urge was so strong, so bad, I had to think of something I could do in order to quiet it and resume control before I made a huge purchase. I tend to have really good luck at these fiber feeding frenzies and chances were, I'd come out with something.

I emptied out my totes and forced myself to photograph my pretties. I also have reassigned projects to some of them and have decided to publicly document it and then redo my physical check list I'm working on. It's bothers me that it's out of date and incorrect. Also on said check list is a makeshift calendar where I keep track of how long I've gone without a yarn purchase--I'm currently on my third week of no new yarn again after a bit of buying.

Anywho, onto the Picture Post O' Doom...




This is our queen size bed with my totes dumped out upon it. Well, most of the bed...


There is the second half of the bed. I attempted to make groupings of yarn to make them easier to document. (Not pictured is a small amount of dish cotton--seriously, dish cotton is not stash--and a few random skeins of acrylic I have lying around that I use as waste yarn. Oh, and two sweaters I have yet to frog and reclaim the yarn from...) Doing this also made it easier to repack my totes in a way that made more sense. Yay for organization.

First up were all the sweater quantities...these make up over half of my stash.



1. Sundara FSM in Flaming Flamingo (3 skeins), becoming a Broderie if I ever get around to it.
2. MadelineTosh Worsted in Cherry (~2 skeins), becoming a DiC shrug.



Seems harmless enough, right? Not much there, all the pictures will have such small quantities, one would assume.



Oh wait, here's another 4 sweaters instead of 2 like the last picture.



1. Allhemp6LUX in Caviar (6 skeins), becoming Uhura after I clear out some stash that is even older then this.
2. Dream in Color Classy in Grey Tabby (8 skeins), becoming a sweater for DH if I can bring myself to work on a non-selfish project. Though it *would* clear a ton of space in my tote if I worked on it.
3. Sundara FSM in Irish Lass (2 skeins), not sure about this one. Maybe a Featherweight Cardigan? Maybe a tank top of some sort? Too pretty to let go of--one of my LE scores--yet almost too pretty to use and need to find the right project to showcase it.
4. MadelineTosh sock in William Morris (3 skeins), see Irish Lass. Pretty, highly variagated, will have to give it some serious thought. Will have to alternate skeins.

6 projects, still not THAT bad...





SURPRISE! More sweaters.



1. Sundara sock in Limeade (1 skein) & Beach Glass (2 skeins), becoming Tempest #2.
2. Sundara sock in Raspberry (2 skeins) & MadelineTosh sock in Twig (1 skein), becoming Tempest #3.
3. Rowan 4ply cotton in a discontinued color called Magenta (10 skeins), plan to make a brand spankin' new Phildar pattern out of it when I get around to translating the directions into English.
4. Sundara Sock in Poppy (4 skeins), February Lady Sweater.
5. Sundara Sock in Marigold (1 skein), not enough for a sweater yet, it's waiting for the perfect grey to pair it with for a colorwork project.



Uh, we're up to 11 now. Well, 10.5 if you want to not count the future yarn that will go with number 5 from this batch. That's a lot of sweater projects, surely I can't have more...? Right...?



...?





MOAR SWEATERS!!one!1!



1. Rowan Cashsoft DK in Pool (10 skeins), this priorly blogged yarn is still making up its mind what it wants to be. Right now, a pattern called Buttercup looks to be the winner. This will be my first cast-on after my current projects as it has been hiding in my tote the longest.
2. Madelinetosh Worsted in Moorland (2 skeins), another DiC shrug.
3. MadelineTosh Sock in Jade (3 skeins), I'm thinking Featherweight for this one.
4. Sublime Yarns Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK (10 skeins), looking to be Mary Jane. This yarn feels like kittens. SO SOFT. I can not remember what the colorway's name is, but it was rather fitting.
5. Sundara Sock in Garden of Delight (5 skeins), another LE score and very similar to the MadelineTosh Sock in Jade. I'm waiting to see what Cosmic Pluto's lastest cardigan in the works is like. I'd like to do a lacey light cardigan with this. So add it to the undecided pile.



16 sweaters. That's all she wrote about those.


Though there is other yarn hanging around in my stash... now we need to talk Sock Yarn.






1. Shibui Sock in Pebble (2 skeins), I'm thinking another pair of Monkeys.
2. Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Olympic Rainforest (~ .5 skeins), sock yarn for my mother, still need to think of what the second pair I make her will be.
3. Dyet Yarns in a colorway I can't remember and I realized this is not on my Rav stash page (1 skein), not sure what I'll do with it quite yet. Socks? Mitts? Something else?
4. Knitivity's Downhome Sock in Tropical (1 skein), will become a pair or tow of socks for my sister.



4 fingering weight non-sweater projects.





By now, if anyone is surprised by multiple pictures, then I'm surprised.

1. Sock Yarnista (3IG) Kinsale in Icing Blue (1 skein), thought I'd use it to make Selbu Modern and then changed my mind. Now considering it as the background color for this month's mystery socks in SKA.
2. My yarn I dyed at DFW Fiber Fest (1 skein), socks for DH of unknown pattern.
3. MadelineTosh Sock in Waterlily (1 skein), going to become the feminine counterpart to my current scarf project.
4. Yarn Love Elizabeth Bennet in Ancient Forest (2 skeins), tiny part will be part of said mystery socks, but unsure of the rest. Can I bring myself to wear silk on my feet?
5. Patons Stretch Sock in Sugar (2 skeins), basic ribbed socks. I know, a non-snobby yarn! GASPEH.
6. TOFUtsies, colorway unnamed, (1 skein), probably more basic socks since these are so variagated they hide patterns.
7. Dale of Norway Baby Ull (~.5 skein), leftover from my brother's hat and no use at this time.

11 fingering weight non-sweater projects. Man, these are just adding up.



And of course, there are more.

1. Dashing Dachs in Caribbean Goldfish (1 skein), once again, basic socks.
2. The Plucky Knitter MCN in Leona Stevenson (1 skein), not sure what to do with this. Scarf?
3. Sundara Sock in Cherry Blossom (1 skein, soon to be 2), Saving up for a sock weight cardigan or maybe a wrap.
4. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Amy's Vintage Office (2 skeins), more Monkeys or other pattern that's good for multicolored sock.
5. Mamablue Troika sock in Pit (1 skein), planning to make a scarf with this one.
6. The Plucky Knitter in Jezebel (1 skein), mystery sock knit and then ...?
7. KnitPick's Dancing in ? (1 skein), *yawn* basic socks.
8. Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Sundae (1 skein), socks, not sure what kind.
9. Unwind Yarns in Cheeky Monkey (1 skein), thinking of using this in another scarf pattern with some undyed merino.
10. Unwind Yarns in Pink Mink (1 skein), undecided.
11. Squoosh MCN sport in Froggy (1 skein), Entomology.
12. Yarntini Variegated Sock in Cherry Cordial (1 skein), undecided.

So that's um....23 fingering weight projects.

Next, Lace. From here on out, these will be so much shorter and easier to blog.

This is my one picture of lace stash.

1. MadelineTosh Lace in Thunderstorm (1 skein), Whisper Cardigan.
2. The Plucky Knitter Cashmere Silk Laceweight in 2 of Hearts (2 skeins), Whisper #2.
3. MadelineTosh pure silk lace in Hibiscus (1 Skein), I'm thinking Hanami?
4. Madeline Tosh pure silk lace in Cherry (2 skeins), thought I'd make a top but now am thinking a Fountain Pen shawl or something else.

4 Laceweight projects.

I originally thought I'd blog the next few pictures, but honestly, none of them have projects and I'm getting sore between the shoulders sitting here so long.

These, by far, are not the most worrisome part of my stash.

The purpose of this post was to kill my stashing urge and believe me, it worked. I have so much work to do. OY.

Ugh

Early morning frogging is the last thing I wanted to be doing today, but I realized I picked up too many stitches for the top of my Shell and if I kept going, it would be huge. The lace would not have opened up and stretched as it should. So I just lost about an hour and half or so worth of work. Oh well, I'm going to think it through a bit better and repick up those bodice stitches shortly. I just wanted to have a small whinge about it first.

However, I made it to the halfway point on my scarf last night which was my goal for the week. So very likely, I'll get quite a bit further before our first weigh in tomorrow.

Trying to keep up with blogging...

At least a few times a week!

Been busy busy busy thanks to the husbeast being home for a 4 day weekend. One of the perks of being military is the extended holiday weekends. So I still have tomorrow with him home to keep knitting and moving right along on these knits. And they are going faster then I would have predicted even a couple of days ago.

Remember how I said I thought the lower portion of my Tie Shell top would take at least a week?

It's done.

I'm ready to start the upper lace portion tomorrow and at this point in time, I am cautiously optimistic that I may be able to call it an FO by mid-month. If that's the case, it will have taken me just shy of three weeks to knit and that feels good. It's been quite some time since I could claim to have done that. I'm not sure if it's that I've gotten slower, or if Ravelry is eating up my time I would otherwise spend knitting.

Don't mind me while I pat myself on the back for this lovely job picking up stitches at the waist band. I'm not sure when this happened, but I have developed a knack for doing it.

I've also been working on the scarf I posted about a couple of days ago. It's moving right along, a bit slower then I would have thought, but it's going. I've used up about 30% of the yarn so far and I'm hoping to be through half the skein by the 7th for the first Snob weigh in.

I just love how this colorway is pooling right now! I couldn't have planned that better if I tried. Blue columns in a sea of brown are love.

Something rare

Decided to cast-on a third project for a quick gratitfication knit and a yardage boost: I'm participating in the Snobs' Yardage contest again this month after two off.




I think it's looking alright so far. It will be a shawlette/triangular scarf. I've been dying to cast-on with some of my Squoosh and love this colorway. I'm so happy I'm getting to use it and like how it's striping so far. MCN blends are very quickly becoming my favorite type of yarn to use.

Early morning knitting

Discovered early this morning that the tie I was working on would be way too big in the largest size, so I got to adjust down two sizes to stop it from overlapping. That allowed me to finish with a couple of inches to knit and I have now picked up the stitches for the bottom of the shell. Yay!

This solves my problem with what to do with the top, since the size I'm making is now the one for my torso size and the one I usually use when making a sweater. Well, I shouldn't say, "solves," I should say that it changes my problem. Now I'm giving serious thought to a horizontal bust dart in lace. Tricky, but would be worth it. I've seen them done in sweaters with cabling as well.