September 2011 Wrap-up

Yardage Totals 2011

January: 1071 yds

February: 762 yds

March: 1189 yds
April: 1083 yds

May: 849 yds

June: 487 yds

July: 222 yds

August: 687 yds
September: 405 yds

Year to date: 6,755 yds or 3.84 miles

It felt like I knit quite a bit more than this all month, but much of it was sock and small-scale project yardage which can be hard-earned. Even though I'm a little disappointed with how low the number is, I'm rather pleased with how much I managed to get done: 1.5 pairs of socks, a small monkey, and the component of my son's Halloween costume. Onto October!

So. An FO update.

I hear that knitters--myself included--still sometimes actually finish projects they've been working on. Quarter 3 2011 is quickly coming to a close and so far, I have 2 FOs to show for it.

Rumor has it that they also still post regularly in their blogs. What a novel idea.

Pattern: Atelier (Ravel it)

Needles: US size 7

Yarn: Sundara Sport Merino- Storm Studies #148

This is the big one, Kittens. (And the one I had hoped to get better pictures of, but The Mister is still grumpy with me since the last photo session, so I'm afraid it may never happen.) Cast on in mid-April, I thought I might never finish this sweater. When it went into hibernation for almost 2 months due to a loss of will to knit, I thought it was a goner. Usually hibernation is the kiss of death for my projects. But, I pulled this back out on 31 July and knit until 16 August.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. My biggest nitpick about this sweater is that I liked the fit much better at my pre-blocking gauge than the pattern gauge I ended up with. Reading some other Ravelers' project notes, I was not the only person to encounter this: it would seem the pattern has some unmentioned positive ease built into it. Had I known, I probably would have gone down another size for the back and the front panels. There is a lot more positive ease in this knit than I am used to, and I'm rather self conscious about too much ease across the back of my knits. I tend to feel sloppy if the back has enough room that a small child could climb in with me.

Contrary to my previous experience with this yarn, it had quite a bit of vertical growth during the blocking process, which also threw me for a loop. I had expected a little in the front garter ridges, but there was a noticeable length difference post blocking. My other nitpick is related to the first: after growth, the front garter ridges hit lower than I had been expecting and I think this adds to the impression that the knit is too big for me. It's still a good sweater, but a bit more casual than I had wanted. It should work out nicely for the winter with long sleeve shirt underneath.

The pattern is very clear and well written--the only problem being the unmentioned positive ease--and I will definitely knit it again.

So, that's my one sweater so far for 2011. I had originally hoped to knit 4 over the course of the year, but at this point, I'd be tickled pink to finish a second.

However.

I'm not in a sweater knitting mood at this moment in time and instead have gotten back into socks....

Ah, stripey socks, how I love you!

I'm currently working on a toe-up "pattern" for all of my self-stripers. Plain stockinette can be dull at times, even with the thrill of the next coming stripe, so I threw in a cable on each side to add to the interesting knitting factor. I didn't need to make these anklets, but I had been convinced they were not going to be wide enough to climb up my leg, so I lopped them off early. Turns out, I could have easily knit another 1.5-2" of leg.

Ages ago--back during last November's blog-a-thon topic suggestion post--Ms. Katie asked me to review some yarn, my Twisted Limone in particular. Well, I can say that I'm rather pleased with how this yarn knit up and turned out. (I have yet to find how it will wear and I can comment on that later. ) I had not worked with a 100% BFL yarn to date, but I will definitely do it again. It has a nice tight twist that reminds me somewhat of Wollmeise. It does not have so many plies that it feels cotton-y, but it definitely has a more "firm" feel to it than merino based yarn I've used in the past. As you can see, kittens, it has lovely stitch definition. The cables pop right out at you. The dye job on this is lovely. Even with two complementary colors, there is no over-lap producing icky brown. No real white spots to speak of, either. Karen is quite a talented lady and if you all are so lucky as to catch one of her Saturday updates, I would definitely encourage you to do so! I was fortunate enough to hear rumblings of her before she took off in popularity and had a custom order made. I still have two more colorways to try out!

This first pair is pretty good, but I've changed up a few things on the next pair I'm knitting. Oh yes, there is already another pair on needles and the first sock is nearing completion.

What is better than a toe-up, self-striping sock with cable details...?








A rainbow self-striping, toe-up sock with cable details! And ribbing.

I Love this, even though the KP Felici is fuzzy and difficult to take pictures of. But you already know how I feel about Felici, kittens.

August 2011 Wrap-Up

Yardage Totals 2011

January: 1071 yds

February: 762 yds

March: 1189 yds
April: 1083 yds

May: 849 yds

June: 487 yds

July: 222 yds

August: 687 yds

Year to date: 6,350 yds or 3.61 miles

Not stellar yardage by any means, but I'm pretty happy that my pace has noticeably picked up after my slump. If the weather ever cools, maybe it will pick up some more.

...

Kittens, I have been an awful blogger this month, despite having content to write about. I'm currently waiting on some better pictures to share of a project, but for now, I'll share 2 new WIPs with you. Not on Wednesday, because I was too busy then. The Mister's schedule is making things difficult, and I've been sucked into a silly (and frankly, pointless) island resort game as a diversion.

BUT. I've actually been knitting while wasting my time building my pixel empire.

Are you all Puffing yet?

I'm currently at a halt on this while I figure out where I want to go. I do not quite want to make it a blanket, not stuffed like it is. I am torn between a pillow, and some sort of crazy, awesome chair cover. I think my brain has been eaten and I've lost my mind. That seems to be the theme for this month.

The only real difference I've made from the pattern is that I'm picking up stitches to connect as I go, rather than tie all of my hexipuffs together at the end. (This genius idea came from Ravelry's CrochetAmy.) It's pretty quick and smooooth. I have big plans to knit this pattern more than once.

While I figure out what to do with that project...look at what else I cast on:

It's a sock. I haven't worked on any of these since the beginning of the calendar year. Toe-up. Self-striping. Cable rib detail on the sides. So much to love here.

So what about you, kittens? Have you been getting any yarn-y crafting done over the summer? Surely some of you live in climates where it's not baking hot and the thought of wool in your lap doesn't make your skin itch? I'll be stuck in summer's clutches for another 6 weeks or so, but I'm definitely dreaming of cooler autumn weather.

WIP-it "Wednesday": 32 of 52

Wow. It's been awhile since I've done a WIP post, kittens. So long I had to pull up a 2011 calendar online and count out which one today is.

Today's pictures are not that great. They're taken with my cell phone and pretty blurry. I hadn't realized how crappy and sensitive my camera is; it can take some lovely pictures in natural light, but apparently hates my bathroom.

As mentioned in a recent blog post, I finally picked my cardigan back up. Last night I reached the point where I will alternate skeins before starting the next. I am pleased to say that I have two full skeins left and it's looking like I can definitely make the cardigan long enough. With pockets. This is great. Sadly, the internet can not properly communicate my happy tone.

I plan to go just a tiny bit longer before starting the pockets (6-12 more rows for up to 1.5" more) and then I'll know for sure. I have yet to err on the side of making a top too long, and I'm aiming for a longer cardigan, so this should hopefully get me there.








I'm even daring to be optimistic enough that I may have enough yarn left over to undo the sleeve bind offs and make them a wee bit longer. I can live with them at this length, but even a few more rows would have been preferable. I doubt I'll have enough yarn to get an extra 1"-2" in each sleeve, but that's life. If I can avoid having to pester the one other owner of this colorway, I'll take it as-is.

July 2011 Wrap-Up

Yardage Totals 2011

January: 1071 yds
February: 762 yds

March: 1189 yds
April: 1083 yds

May: 849 yds

June: 487 yds

July: 222 yds

Year to date: 5,663 yds or 3.22 miles

Oh, kittens. July ended up being not-so-good for knitting after all, but you already knew that with the lack of blog posts, didn't you?

It turns out that knitting a worsted weight garter stitch blanket large enough to cover a queen sized bed just hasn't been my thing lately. My goal (for the second month in a row) was to finish the bottom chocolate brown stripe: ~2.5 skeins of yarn. I knit up the half a skein and just enough of the next to finish my row. At this rate, I will definitely not finish the blanket before our next move. I might get it done in time for Giftmas 2012.

However. The last few days I've been getting back into my cardigan, which I haven't touched in two months. I still need to see if I'm going to make it with the amount of yarn I have: fear of not having enough has definitely held me back. I've been in a place where I just didn't want to know or deal with it, so it was easier just to shelf the project and distract myself with other things.

My goal for the year was to knit up 4 sweater quantities of yarn. This is still the first. Heading into August. I've destashed quite a bit of yarn the last couple of months, so room will not be an issue. It's just been...demoralizing as a sweater knitter to have no desire to knit sweaters. I think the bad start to the year with the green tweed one set the tone, unfortunately.

At this point, I'm not sure I want to bother making any goals for August. While the list is a nice visual reminder, it does not give me the drive needed to create anything.

Farmer's Wife QAL: Week 5

Well, I managed to eek out one more week's worth of blocks, kittens. So while I did not catch up a bit with the QAL, I didn't fall too much farther behind, either. I'd call that a mostly win.

Block 9: Box

This one was pretty nice to me, except one HST that just would not line up properly. I went to fix it and realized today that my fix actually didn't do what it was supposed to...and I trimmed it up so I sort of have to live with it this way. OH WELL. I'm calling this one done, and I'll worry about the new problem I created for myself when it's time to piece the top.

Have I mentioned how much I love fussy cutting? Or this pony fabric? I love them both, and I'm hoping to feature ponies in future blocks. If perfectly honest, I love all of the fabrics in this block.

Block 10: Bowtie

Easiest. Block. Ever. I love it for this quality and how striking the result is. I spent quite a bit of time deciding what fabrics I would use when this block came up.

I ended up picking out 3 completely different ones the day of.

It's funny how that works sometimes.