Frogging

So I don't generally frog things. I usually finish what I start. I even finished The Hobbit, a book that took me years to get through. That's why I keep a total of all of my projects and do not consider those I am unable to work on as in hibernation or not on the list. They've been started, they will be finished. I also usually put a bunch of time and effort into picking out the pattern and the yarn. Not so easy with test knits. You don't see what the pattern will be until you're done. Those are the only items I've ever frogged.

The Path of Flowers Shawl is a really pretty pattern. It just doesn't work in KnitPicks Shimmer. It needs a solid or nearly solid yarn. I'm thinking a pastel pink for my grandmother for her birthday in February. The pink and purple Shimmer does not work. There are really pretty roses and tulips in the shawl, but they get lost in the variegations. So I am frogging it, and will either use the yarn for a different pattern for my Grandmother's birthday, or use it for myself and get the pastel pink for her.

It is a very sad thing for me to admit defeat in a pattern/yarn combination. However, I shall move forward with my head held high. And use those needles for the next project starting.....now.

RIIIIIIIIIIIP.

Old Navy?

So I finally managed to find the site for the mystery shawl. It'll be triangular and blue. Perfect for the rest of that cobweb weight Yubina yarn. Yay! My LYS is most likely going to hold a knitting night Wednesdays or Thursdays after the clues come out so we can all sit around and puzzle over them together. Of course the last clues will be after I'm in Rochester again, so I told them they need a speakerphone or something. Should be a good time!

Have you seen the Old Navy Fair Isle collection? I have a deep, burning hatred for that store, and the flame has been severely doused by this collection. Freakin' cute! Couple of things I'd love to try my own hand at, and I want to find the closest Old Navy so I can ogle the fabrics up close and figure out what exactly they've done. One of them is taking the ballband dishcloth pattern and turning it inside out while adding some ribbing edging. I can do that! Though I'd rather have it inside out of what they have. I have a friend who really likes Old Navy stuff generally - I'm thinking of looking at the cabled scarf, charting the pattern, then either making it for my friend, or pushing her into trying cables by gifting her the chart, needles, chunky yarn, and pom-poms. Yes, I know you're probably reading this, I'm talking to you!

I'm about 85% done with the Monkey socks, and with the way my experimentation is going today, there's no reason for me not to finish. Except Ravelry. I'm doing quite well with my Plum Pullover too, 12 more inches of the body, then I have to figure out what's going on with the sleeves. It's gonna be one of those "divide leftover yarn in two, knit until desired length or no more yarn" type things. I'm a-hoping that it'll be enough for long sleeves, and it really does seem like it will as I have seven skeins left and I'm done with the yoke and I'm already somewhat into the body, so I'm anticipating 2-3 skeins for the rest of the body, then 1-2 skeins per sleeve. If it maxes out my expectations, that's exactly the ten skeins I have. If it requires more, well, the sweater gets 3/4 or shorter sleeves. I think it's asking for long sleeves though.

Too Much Knitting!

So I'm at work, waiting for my panel to be out of the Ultrasonic Scanner and motoring along on my Plum Sweater. Okay, so not motoring, Ravelry has gotten in the way. But I have just gotten to the sleeve/body split (it's a top-down) and realized that I put my stitch holder into my other bag last night. D'oh! So it is on to the Monkey sock, as I only have a set of DPNs which will hold one set of sleeve stitches, but sadly not the other. Bah!

I am also a sucker for joining things. Stitches with Style, the yarn store I frequent out here, is contemplating doing an in-store knit along for a mystery shawl that starts on October 24th. Sadly, I cannot find the site for the mystery shawl, I just know that it's triangular, has a water-based theme, and calls for 1200 m of yarn, perfect for the blue cobweb yarn I just acquired. If it's like the other mystery stoles, it will probably take 900-1000 yards instead of the larger suggested number, and I will still have the leftovers for my Print O' The Wave stole. Exactly what I was looking for! I was hoping to find the site, join, and possibly swatch it up today (because with the Monkey stuff, two sweaters, and other projects I don't have enough stuff to keep me busy tonight...), but I cannot find the site at all. Once I find it I shall have to let others on Ravelry know and post it so that it's successful for them. It doesn't start until October 24, so I really must have all the deadline stuff done at that point anyway, so I should be free and clear to start it. I may or may not actually go with the Secret of the Stole one; it starts in a week and a half, and I don't think I'll be far enough on my deadlines to join up for the first clue. I'm still signed up, and I found the elusive Black Cherry Kool-Aid that I couldn't find previously, so I'm all set. I just need black beads, which I'll be purchasing this weekend at A.C. Moore's knitting festival. I gotta get the yarn for my grandfather's Stag Bag Pillow then, so I may as well pick up the beads too. I still want to join the Sock Wars, but the sign ups end Monday evening. I think I'll wait 'till the last minute, then decide if I can pile on a pair of socks (or more)

Monkey Swap

I love choosing gifts for people. I love finding the perfect thing, something they either want or need and can use. Something they may or may not have gotten for themselves, at any rate. Or if I’m knitting them a gift, something they will use. Which is why I won’t knit a hat for Lee, or knit something that isn’t machine washable for most of the people I knit for. I’m having so much fun trying to get things that will be enjoyed by my spoilee. I know she’ll like most of what I’m getting for her. I’m not positive about the yarn choices, but I believe they’ll be acceptable, if not loved immediately. She likes interesting new indie designer yarn, so I’ve gotten her a brand I believe she hasn’t used before along with one of the patterns she wants. Her Monkey socks are nearly done, and I need to make a couple of random things that are going to be added to her gift. There’s also one or two other items I want to throw in. Both are large items, so we’ll see which one gets there first since both would be too much spoilage. Not that there’s really such a thing, but some kind of limit must be observed!

I really want to take a picture of the sky outside of my window here at work, but my camera is at home. There’s a gorgeous blue sky, no clouds, with a really cool tree. And a crane. The colors are just really cool and interesting. Desktop background-like.

I’m more excited about the giving than the receiving, really. And, to my spoiler, I totally started searching though all the blog questionnaires to try to search you out based on the clue of your foot length, but decided it would be better to just wait! I am very excited, and I’m sure that whatever you’ve chosen will be wonderful, as I haven’t seen a bad Monkey sock ever. If your package arrives before mine’s ready to go, I will be forcing myself to hold off on opening it until I complete mine. Major incentive for me to hurry up!

On the knitting front, no pictures because I’m working on a last-minute design submission. No pictures until it gets published. If it gets published. Then a test-knit, but you’ll probably get to see those pictures. Chrissy doesn’t mind us posting those. And of course, I have Monkey socks and gifties to go with that, as well as the ever-present Christmas sock knitting. Which is mostly on hold due to the Monkey and sweater knitting.

Stash (VEEEEEEEEERY Picture Heavy!)

Here's all those pictures I've been talking about. First up, we have a picture of my Blaze pullover, with one sleeve complete, the other past the cuff, and the body cast on. I wanted this to be a rather quick knit, but deadline knitting and then the monotonous pattern got in the way. It will be finished someday soon I hope. Though I did shoot myself in the foot yesterday, and now I have to get two sweaters, three pairs of socks, some random stuffed animals, and probably another Baglet done by the end of October. That's six weeks. I'm screwed.

Here is a photo of my stash. Like, all of it. This is all of the full skeins of yarn that do not currently have a project calling to them. So, they went into a box and off to the yarn swap at a knitting group I go to. They almost all got taken right away, and the few that didn't got donated. I feel great!

So what happens the day after the swap? I receive two packages. One is the yarn from Yubina I ordered, and man, is that tiny. It's cobweb weight, and I swear I've used larger threads in a sewing machine. I'm going to be making Eunny Jang's Print O' The Wave Stole with the blue and I was planning on my 6'x6' Shetland Lace Ring Shawl from the other, but I'm not positive now. It's much more brown than ivory. Though I'm sure once it's knit up it won't be as brown. Maybe not as light as I would like, but not as brown either. I'll have to swatch it to really see.





The other package is the yarn for a test knit that I'm doing for Gardiner Yarn Works. Very nice color, can't wait to cast on! There was also a nice thank-you note with the yarn, very sweet!

And last but not least, a sampling of Assateague pictures, including the crabs we caught and the pony eating the grass next to the tent. Yay!

Beginning of the Cabled Baglet

Ponies think they have the right-of-way here. And they do.

Sunset over the marshes - we were just finishing crabbing

Apparently it's very exhausting being an adorable pony

Pony by the tent

Beautiful beach

Yup, we caught these two crabs!

Oh Yeah...

I remembered why I do swaps. It's so someone else can knit a pair of socks for my 10" long feets, and I can knit socks for someone with something like 9" long feets. And let me tell you, after knitting socks on size 2.50mm needles with a stitch count of 80 for 11" long feets, I am amazed at how fast the Monkeys are flying off the needles.

Monkeys, taken in the beam of sunlight at work.

Remember how I said at one point that I didn't like the socks I got from the last swap I did? I brought them out again, and they're not that bad. It was a mystery pattern, and the yarn just didn't go with the pattern. It's also a weird yarn for a sock, as it's a DK weight and there's not many DK weight sock yarns out there. As everyone in the Six Socks Knitalong is finding out. Sorry! I think I will do the Sock Wars, as I do enjoy the picking out of the surprises for the other person and the receiving of random things in the mail. I'm still not signing up until the last day, if I do at all, because I'd like to know what kind of yarn is required and I want to make sure I have gotten a good portion of deadline knitting done before signing up for more.

Also, the internets decided not to play nice last night. I got three pictures of the ten-ish I wanted to get out into the ether. So, here are views of the gorgeous Cabled Baglet, a pattern I wholeheartedly recommend picking up for yourself when it comes out. Quick, easy to make, looks great, and is portable so you can take it along if you don't have a purse sock. Also great for gifts if you need last-minute ones. I'm planning on using up all of my Red Heart leftovers on these (I can get like four more done) and keeping them around to use as gifts when I need them.
The pictures:

Pictureless...

I just placed my first order from the Loopy Ewe. Can't wait to see what comes with the yarn! I ordered the Cookie A. pattern for my Monkey Swap 3 pal as well as some sock yarn from a dyeing company I don't think she's tried yet. At least, I searched her blog and the company didn't show up. All the others I was considering did, so I think I'm good with what I've gotten her. She likes variegated yarns, yarns from new to her dyers, and I got a colorway that, from reading her questionnaire and looking at the yarns she's purchased, should be right up her alley. Then again, I haven't used variegated yarns much, so it might come out completely wrong. The socks that I'm making her are coming out differently than I had thought when looking at the skein. Not bad, I still think she'll like them, but not as good as I thought they'd be. Ah well.

I have pictures of these socks, a couple of my Ravelry projects, and my Assateague trip. They're on my home computer. I'm at work. I stayed late yesterday as there was a knitting group in this end of town last night. Instead of going home and coming back, I just stayed here an extra couple of hours (we work on flex time, so I can go home earlier later in the week) and went to the knitting group. Met some great people there too. It was the yarn swap, so I got rid of all of my stashed yarn. Yup, there's a picture of what I got rid of. On the home computer. I got rid of a whole bunch, and only brought one measly ball of crochet thread home to make snowflakes with. I no longer have any eyelash yarn or full skeins of acrylic, or the black yarn I made socks with and felted, or the extra skein of my FAVORITE Peru Luxury DK. I figured someone else could have the loveliness. That and it's not machine washable, and the only things I could think of for one skein of it would be things that would get dirty easily. I still have the random non-full skeins of acrylic, because I don't feel right giving someone less than a full skein, even though one of them is only about ten yards less than a full skein of Red Heart SuperSaver. But I can make more Cabled Baglets out of the almost full skeins. Pictures of Cabled Baglet, a test knit for Chrissy Gardiner of Gardiner Yarn Works that will be up sometime after October, are forthcoming. I must say this is a freaking adorable bag. I love it. Like, absolutely love it. Very quick knit, I'm going to be using all of my random acrylic leftovers to make as many of these as possible as last-minute gifts for people. They are nice and small, fit a sock/sleeve-type knitting project and a couple notions, and the cables give it a very nice touch. It's a drawstring bag and EVERYONE who has seen it yesterday commented on it. Even all the guys at work at a meeting (it's a teleconferenced seminar thingie, which means two straight hours of knitting every Tuesday morning) thought it was great, and so did all the people at the knitting group. If you're in need of a cute little bag that takes somewhere between six and eight hours from start to finish (I was doing other things in between) this is definitely a pattern you should buy. I'll post the pictures when I get home and you'll see why.

I'm going to update the sidebar with only the projects that are currently topmost in my knitting priorities, instead of having everything there. Like that Frill and all those cross stitches? Yeah, I haven't cross stitched in forever due to all the knitting I'm doing. Honestly, I'm about ready to switch it up to mostly cross stitching (I have phases) but I have so many things I HAVE to get done that the cross stitching is not going to get touched for a bit. Which is sad, I really wanted to finish one of my huge ones this summer. Ah well, if I can finish a bunch of knitting and stop signing up to do more, maybe I still can finish it...

...Progress?

Lee had a major revelation this weekend. He thought that this magic number that has veered between 25 and 45 since I've known him is actually the number of projects I have yarn for/are planning to make. I laughed when I found out that that’s what he thought. He was in total shock when I told him that no, that’s not the number of projects I could make. That number would probably be over 100, as I have about 30 cross stitches that are in packaging still, yarn for about 20 pairs of socks, two sweaters, nearly 20 random small projects and around 20 lbs of fleeces. I think I am set for awhile. I don't stash, but I do buy for specific projects. So my stash is a bag of ten skeins of Peru Luxury DK, two skeins of sock yarn, and a few skeins of acrylic sportweight that a friend had picked up for me from a garage sale. That and leftovers from previous projects. My stash may be small compared to most knitbloggers, but my queue is massive. My yarn content may reach nearly as much as many others, but it's all set aside for a purpose. The number, my friends, is actually the number of projects I've started at one point or another. Whether it was that I was so excited to have it that I cast on, then the magic died due to the stitch pattern or (in the case of the Frill) I screwed up so I have an extra one cast on and didn't realize it, it is the number of projects that are in any form other than the one I bought them in.

The count. So, the plan was to keep it under 30 works in progress. I have eight that I can’t work on as they’re at home (usually paintings that I just haven’t finished) and about ten that I just shouldn’t have started (three blankets, five cross stitch, a stole and an amigurumi). So that’s about eighteen that are definitely in hibernation, but I still count them as they’ve been started. If I consider those eighteen to be in hibernation, then a good number of in progress projects should be something between 20 and 25, a cross stitch, a fleece, one or two crochet items, and two to four knit items, so I can switch off between an intricate stole and a simple watching a movie pattern, and have a sock or two in my purse. It really should only be up to 23 using that logic, as I have a crochet blanket (or three) that are in hibernation that I should start working on, and a stole that is also in hibernation that should be the paying attention piece. I was going to make it a goal to get down to 23 and stay below 25, but then I realized that I'm knitting a bunch for Christmas. I'll probably be making everyone's first sock, then everyone's second sock for the design that I'm making for all my aunts in different colors. So the goal really is to just stay below 40 until the Christmas knitting is done. Stay below 40 and don't put anything on stitch holders to use the needles.

Now, what number am I at that I'm going to try to reduce? That is the question. As I have had a major case of start-itis recently, mostly when it comes to socks, I will be trying mostly to reduce the number of single socks I have. How many socks is that? Eight. Yes, I have eight socks either waiting for a mate or just started on the needles. One of these pairs of socks won't be continued on until October (I got the wrong contrasting color and only noticed after completing the cuff) but three of these pairs are in larger weight yarns, so those won't be too bad to finish. I think I can get down to only one or two pairs in progress by the end of the month.

Now, keeping in mind that eight works in progress are socks and eighteen are in hibernation (for a total of twenty-six, already blasting by the twenty-three...) the number of works in progress is ...

thirty-seven.

So that's fourteen more projects than there should be. I'm not going to set any number goals other than the keeping it manageable for Christmas - only Christmas gifts if I'm over 30, but I can cast on something for me if I'm under 30. Once the holiday knitting has been completed, then I'll worry about getting that number down closer to where it should be!

Updating...

So this weekend I'm going to try to be a good internet person by actually photographing and updating things. I'm only going to be gone for one day instead of the entire time, so I should be able to take pictures of things in the sunlight (ahhhhh, nooo, it buuuuuuurns!) and actually tally up my projects for Blogger and Ravelry updatingness. Mostly I need to figure out how to photograph stuff better. Or con Lee into photographing me. That would probably work better. I get funny looks when I try to photograph such things as socks on my feet in the outside. I live in an apartment complex, and not a college student complex, which would make it much more acceptable. All college students do weird things, and RIT has a photography major, so pictures of weird things at weird angles are not that odd. Okay, well, they are, but people taking these pictures are commonplace enough that no one else notices.

Anyway, I own a camera, a very nice camera, so I should be taking awesome pictures of the things I knit and stuff. We'll see how that goes.

Socks (finally!)

Okay, so I lied. Not entirely my fault, Blogger, my camera, and the internet decided they didn't want to play nice. And I was away for the weekend, so couldn't do it then. However, here are some pictures!





Yarn for the Monkey Sock Swap! But oh, which one? I know, but I'm not telling, just in case she manages to figure me out. Either way, I do believe that these will be adorable Monkeys. I'm actually really glad my spoilee likes the color scheme that I got - I actually bought these a couple of days before I got my partner, and didn't really like the colors so much (it's not something I would choose for myself to wear) but I was drawn to it. Good for my spoilee!

Don't'cha just hate it when you're 2 rows from completion, and you run out of yarn? Yeah, I was worried I was going to run out. So I kept on knitting, and decided that yeah, I would just barely make it. Boy was I wrong. I did have scraps of this yarn from an earlier sock though, so it got finished.

And the sockapalooza. These are all the sock knitting I've done since the beginning of August (and some in September - I re-took the picture after finishing a bit after the weekend). Yes, I know, I have a large bunch still on the needles on the end. Yes, that's five pairs on the needles. And if I had the sock yarn for the few sizes that aren't being used up, they'd probably be in this picture too. I like having one or two in my purse, the easy, don't have to think about it out-and-about knitting (blue toe-up sock and multicolored, mostly done grey sock). Then there's the ones I have to concentrate on, either because they're colorwork or intricate (green sock, will be Fair Isled). Then there's the ones I'm designing (black, mostly done, waiting for yarn, and orange). It's all mostly Christmas knitting, some Birthday, some designed, and two socks that are just mine, knit from someone else's pattern. The question is: Can you find the pairs?

Nope, the blues are not mates. Different color blue which you can kinda see in the picture, and different rib pattern. These are the Mix and Match Rib pattern that I test knit for Chrissy Gardiner. Hourglass rib on the left, Eyelet on the right. Nice easy pattern in sport weight, a good way to use up random sport weight acrylic that I have lying around and give my sisters Christmas socks. They're ankle socks instead of full cuff socks - not sure how much acrylic I have, and I wouldn't want that much acrylic on my legs. Very fast, very cute though!

These for some reason wouldn't take with the flash. So I tried with no flash. Still not good, but better. Yes, these are a match. For my sister. Yay, Christmas Present #1 done! Also, these were finished in September, not August. I did finish one pair in August...

Betcha' you didn't see that one coming! I finished the first of this pair in July, and the second on August 2, I believe. International Sock of Doom 1. The second Sock Wars is beginning in October - I can't decide if I want to join. I think I will, but I did just sign up for a couple of test knits, and I am trying to do a bunch of Christmas knitting - I suppose that since the signups are open until October 1, I can set myself a knitting goal and if I meet it, I can sign up. I had fun for the first one, but things got crossed in the mail and I didn't particularly like the socks I got. Haven't worn them. It is something cool to be a part of. Okay, howsabout, if I finish all of my sister's socks, Lee's socks, Lee's mom's socks, Blaze, and I get to the wing in the Mystery Stole 3 (that I am AMAZINGLY far behind on) then I can join. Mystery Stole 3 is negotiable, but only if there's another project taking its place that is substantial enough. Like, not a pair of socks, but the two pairs of handspun socks (that are not done being spun) for my godparents and the needlefelted model of their dog made from their fur is a good swap. Which means that I have more knitting to do than can be done in less than a month. So I probably won't join, as I really shouldn't, but I might anyway...