COWL NUMBER THREE

almost a third done with the third cowl by the third of the month!

cowl 2 is done, need to block it and then make sure the cast-off edge is not too loose or too tight (cast-off edges are tricky for me, sometimes.)

I may finish it before January but most of my time is going to go into finishing other things. I did polish off a pair of mittens, but they're weirdly lumpy in an area and i think I shall have to rip them out. I need to do 3 more mitten pairs, a poncho, and a pile of spinning. in like a week.

oh, and 8 job applications and 2 papers.

WOO WORKIN BUSY

Already planning ahead

It's not yet December, and I'm already planning for next year (wait. again. yeah, again). I think 12 sock-yarn projects, started on the beginning of each month, is a pretty good idea.

For December, my main goals are to finish 3-5 pairs of mittens, start mum's cowl, and finish the loop batt that I'm slowly, slowly spinning.

Socks

I have 40 pairs of socks waiting for me to knit them.

I want them all Right This Moment.

Why can't I knit as fast as I can daydream about socks?


edit:
Some people are not sock knitters. While it is true that you can buy a pair of socks for much cheaper and much less effort than you can knit a pair, I find that handknit socks are fun, fairly fast, and a really good price-point: you get one project out of one skein of yarn (sometimes two out of one skein! if you don't mind short cuffs). I also don't mind wearing odd colors of socks whereas I'm much pickier about sweaters and hats and shawls and things.

all this means is a) I like knitting socks, mostly and b) I have a hell of a lot of sock yarn.

edit 2: the small needles+yarn is a little hard on the hands, hence why I can only say "mostly"

Pictures

Cowlness continues. Here's some pics of cowl #1

The blocking did help with the curling, so it only curls gently now.

Note that I won at yarn chicken, hence my ridiculous face in the bottom picture.

Cowl 2 is almost completely done. I am at the stage now where I look at the yarn remaining after every row and think, "how much more can I get out of this?"

I wound the yarn for cowl 4 tonight too, and cast on cowl 3 to test out the needles I've chosen. I might have to go down a size but I need to knit a few inches to see.

cowl 5 I also pulled out to take a look at. It's almost done, I just need to do some fixing to it so it lays how I want.

.... basically, it's very blissfully cowly around here.

I didn't used to like cowls but now I recognize them as scarves-that-don't-fall-off.

cowls

Cowl #1 is finished. It still curls, despite a vicious blocking. That's the nature of the beast I suppose.

Cowl #2 is at least halfway done, though I'm uncertain about how wide I want to make it.

yarn for Cowl #3 is balled up, and I think I know what needles I want to work on it with (the short US 3 circular, to do it in the round). Cowl #4 is secretly Cowl #0, I just have to make a few mods to make it more wearable (I'm folding it where it curls and adding an extra edging so it's thicker and prettier). The yarn for cowl #5 is picked out, I just have to finalize the pattern I want.

pretty much nothing but cowl-o-clock over here.

Started a very simple cowl. Using some lovely colors of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport.

Was it on my list or in my queue? No.

but I've got 20 apps due between now and the end of November, so simple stockinette in the round is what called to me.

Unfortunately it's almost done. :D those colors aren't coming through perfectly--the middle blue is much teal-ier

maybe if I blog about knitting it will be like I actually have the time to knit

There's a knit along for this Vacillate shawl that ends by the end of the month.

I'm almost out of yarn, so I hope "running out of yarn" counts as finishing the sucker. It's *almost* as long as the pattern calls for. I'm halfway through the 6th repeat and the pattern calls for 8. I suspect I will be lucky to make it through 7.

I still find the colors an interesting combination. Glad to use them and get them moving in my stash but wondering all the time if I should have chosen something just slightly different.

Autumn has come at last to the area. The cats are going nuts chasing the leaves as they flutter past the window. And the job applications keep piling up and coming in and going out.

I can do this. Just gotta keep breathing.

late night thoughts

I want my goal for next year to be to start one project a month with 12 of my oldest yarns:

1. dyeabolical lace: laceweight shawl gift
2. bright purple handspun: ??
3. blue Koigu: fingerless mitts (Rye, maybe?)
4. opal starry night: cowl, flat/in the round
5. cashwool: estonian lace (in progress)
6: katia linen: ??
7: morgana casbah: shawl that justifies the colors?
8: DiC starry black and blue: astro-y colorwork of some sort
9: thistle claudia: colorwork socks?
10: grape claudia: textured shawl
11: dark purple handspun: ??
12: cedar casbah: shawl that justifies the colors?

not finish, just get on the needles/start considering. This use-oldest-stash yarn was a good idea a few years back so will be nice to try again.

I also want to knit 12 pairs of socks (but none of the above are socks. meep!): 6 for me, 6 for twin

and finish all my WIPs
and defend my dissertation
and learn to fly

edit: maybe it's better to think about starting 12 projects with yarns purchased before 2014 (some 38 yarns in this Old Stash). Then I don't have to knit all my casbah up in one year and I get to some of the sock yarns too.

4 of those 38 are Deep Stash/Core Stash--my "generic" entries for leftovers and my stockpile of epic-shawl laceweight
3 of those 38 are wollmeise, not feeling the urge to use that up any time soon
with some luck, 4 of those 38 will be gone/used up by the end of this year, so not for consideration.
That leaves 27 yarns to pick through. Plenty of options.

aside from the 12 above there's also:
13: supersoft handspun/bulky weight: ??
14: mal purple sock: recreate Wine in Summer shawl (in progress)
15: 3 irish girls sock: shawl?
16: Cushendale gift yarn from Ireland: ?? pillow? monster?
17: 2 skeins of twilight: shawl? pamuya:
18: corsair handspun: ??
19: purple and gray sock yarn: socks for twin
20: 3 ply blue dk yarn handspun: ??
21, 22, 23: 3 skeins of Rowan Felted Tweed for witchy mitts (in progress)
24, 25, 26: KP felici: socks for me
27: lakeshore handspun: ?? hat?

I could do this for my whole stash, but I won't.
FYI: 46 yarn entries in 2014; 44 in 2015 so far (19 of them swaps and 7 of them handspun, so more like 18 things in)

not counting things that came in and also went out (thru being finished, or thru re-swapping)

I really should get some sleep

handspun: 20 before 2014; 7 in 2014 (only 3 finished; 4 still on the spindle!); and 9 in 2015 so far. Bigger/better spins, though, this year, with the addition of the wheel.

pardon me

pardon me while I run around screaming and flailing.

job application stuff has taken over my life.

Week Goals

Whoosh, time is moving quickly, especially as October begins all the job application stuff.

In the next week I want to:
1) edit my research statement (by Monday, to send to the committee)
2) make a website (even if it's rudimentary; not just linkedin)
3) do laundry
4) work on my error/uncertainty estimates for at least 5 hours
5) write for at least 5 hours
6) schedule a doctor's appt
7) get through the orange part of my current spinning project

there, that should be good for both fun and work.

AUTUMN IS COMING

Fingers crossed of course, but lately the mornings and evenings are nice enough to have the windows open, and the shade is pretty pleasant.

I've been enjoying my tomatoes as I pick them, one at a time, and eat them right off the two plants. They are doing pretty well but I can tell they would like to grow a lot taller. I will not repot them--they are already taking over the porch. They are enjoying the rain from the weekend.

My potatoes are ready to be dug up, and I'm excited because this means soon I will have tasty little oven roasted potatoes :) It is almost soup season, too, so roasted veggie soup is coming up. The weather is still hot and humid during most of the day, so it's just a little hint that those things might be coming soon, but it's nice to have a reminder.

I have my first draft of job application stuff completed, and am editing/working on improving it before the first applications are due (end of Sept). Meanwhile, I am also ankle deep in programming. Kind of fun, though.

I finally got oil for the spinning wheel and spent last night happily spinning my Loop Bullseye Bump

Isn't it pretty? It's got flecks of copper and green sparkle (angelina) in it as well. It's mostly merino, so it's slick, but it's spinning up nice and fine. I am aiming for a fingering/sport weight 2ply, and for the second ply I picked up some chocolate-colored corriedale when I went to Stony Mountain Fibers yesterday for the oil. It's a bit springier than merino but it should work well as the second ply and I can't wait to see what sort of yardage I end up getting! This is the last thing in my Spin the Bin 2015 challenge box as well, so when I finish this I'll have met my year's goal.

There's one more thing I want to spin, though, and that's a 3 ply sock weight. I have 8oz of lilac colored corriedale from Highland Handmades and 4oz of a blue-lavender BFL/silk blend from Frabjous Fibers and I think they'll go well together. 

Knitting continues apace, but there really isn't enough time in the day. I have some plans for a beautiful geometric lace shawl, but I don't know if I will get a chance to start it before the end of the year, much less finish it. Oh well!

When work gets overwhelming, make a list

Actually that's terrible advice--the best advice is to sit down and do things for as much time as you can instead of worrying about them for as much time as you can.

Buut it's break time so I'm gonna blog about knitting. or potential knitting.

I am feeling the need for shawls all of a sudden. I picked up that intricate lace shawl in August and I want to just pound away on that sucker for 4 hours a night (note: I do not get that much time to work on it. Usually I knit two rows right before I pass out). I ripped out my Vacillate color shawl (it was too wide, and I was gonna end up with a square rather than a rectangle) and I want to go home from work right now to cast it on and get back on the horse (it's a very very fun knit. Surprisingly addictive and easy). And I found a wee nubbin of a crescent Summer Flies shawl that I really want to start again (mm, pretty purple yarn)--I didn't get much past the garter tab caston for that one but I think it's awesome regardless. I also need to wind yarn for my next Piper's Journey, and I think that I finally decided I am going to knit a Nurmilintu with my luxurious purple silk yarn I got two years ago for my birthday. I also have 4 glorious skeins of Dragonfly Fibers DK yarn (traveller is the base) in the Titania colorway, and I think they'd make either a great Rococo Shawl.

I want to do a Striped Study or Different Lines or something like that in my two skeins of madelinetosh tosh merino light in the copper penny and oxblood colorways, but I also recently got gifted Oak Park pattern and I think if I picked up a dark brown and full skein and a partial of something like tart or another red or purple variant in mtl I can make a really fantastic version of this shawl.

There are a thousand crescent shawls awaiting me, and I still don't know what to do with some of my precious shawl stash. *sigh*.

Similarly, yarn for socks continues to breed even though I knit with it incessantly. Perhaps next year will be a knit-twelve-pairs year.... much needed.

The holidays are coming up faster than I expected. I am taking a relaxed approach to their knitting this year, though. I want to make mittens and socks for everybody, and a poncho for mom and a hat for my brothers, but I might just do mittens when I can and skip everything else. It's busy around here.

That's enough fun for now. Back to work.

Today's mystery

The mystery of the day is: what is this thing?

fyi, I do not have a solution to this mystery. It has plagued a group of mine for nearly two years now, so I thought I would share it with the world. Leave a misguided or informative answer, whichever you prefer.

WIPsplosion averted

So, it's inevitable that startitis sets in after a big event like Stash Dash. This is especially true this year, as I made my Stash Dash 2015 all about working on WIPs and as such, cast on nothing new the whole summer. By the end of SD, I had three projects that needed their ends woven in and some seaming, and one pair of socks on the needles. everything else was done, or in deep hibernation.

Immediately upon finishing, I did a pair of fingerless mitts for my aunt out of Road to China by the Fibre Company (note to self: add this to the review list, ung it is so decadent) and then promptly made a pair of wee baby shoes out of the leftovers. But after that little spurt (a mere weekend's time) I felt all lost and fumbly. Usually this means I need to do some spinning until my projects settle themselves in their mind.

But nothing really felt settled, and instead of casting on something new, I went digging through my old hibernating projects and came out with a tricky lace shawl in very delicate yarn that I'd started in January 2014. The pattern is Madli's Shawl from the Knitted Lace of Estonia book, and I'd gotten halfway into the edging and lost myself about 20 stitches into the third or fourth row. Really not a lot of progress at all. This was one of those projects that demonstrates how much I've learned and improved over time, because not only did I not know why I had stopped, I found a mistake and dropped it down and fixed it in the lace (including dropping and recovering a nupp!), I was able to figure out where I was in the pattern and keep right on going with it, and I plowed my way through into the main body section while it had my attention. It has helped me to use the crochet hook method for nupps, which is to use a small crochet hook to knit or purl all the seven stitches together immediately after making them. Technically this makes you off by a row with that stitch, so you can slip it the next time you get there or just ignore it and move on, as it makes little difference. The hook I am using I originally purchased for beading. I think it's something like a 1mm, very small (fit through the center of an 8/0 bead), but my yarn is so thin that this is not a problem.

After I worked on the lace shawl for about a week, I suddenly cast on for a sweater. What? what is this madness? I had only just finished the  last sweater and I felt the urge to make a new one? But I did. It is a crocheted sweater called Anzen from Pom Pom Quarterly Issue 7, starts with a double-crochet-stitch yoke and then appears to be mostly half-double-crochet for the body. I immediately modified it in a thousand ways and had to rip out twice (three times now, I separated for the sleeves too soon), but it's proceeding and I'm almost into the body.

So, apparently what I crave after finishing so many things, this time, is a pile of big awkward tricky projects.

who would have thought?

Stash Dash 2015: results

This summer, I did a 5km. in knitting, of course.

I wasn't sure if I was gonna make it and when I had finished the last of my WIPs on Thursday the 13th, I realized I was short about 50 yards. So I pulled a half-ball of acrylic out of stash, estimated its yardage at about 73 yards, and crocheted it into a (rather ugly) baby hat. I forgot how fast crochet is --that was just about an hour and a half for a project. Simple,simple, and with that I hit my goal.

What sorts of things did I finish?

1) The Sweater

This is my first "real" sweater. It's a pretty good fit (I might need to re-do the bindoff) and it turned out almost exactly as I wanted it. I have the ends to weave in (as you can see) and I also need to put buttons on the sleeves (they are the major modification to the project--3/4 length instead of full, fitted instead of loose, knitted on edging, sideways garter instead of downwards garter for a pulled-in rather than belled-out effect, with a button). Finally I think I may do some sort of crochet chain along the neck ribbing--it is a bit open.

The pattern is Harvest, by tin can knits; this is a free easy pattern, part of their Simple Collection, which is designed to guide beginning knitters. I found it easy and informative to follow up until a certain point--after I took the sleeves off, I did pretty much my own thing, but upon reviewing, "my own thing" was basically "instructions" without a few decreases, plus the sleeve thing. I would recommend this pattern for anyone looking to start their first cardigan.

I knit the second-biggest size without huge concern for gauge (I had swatched three or four years back and this fit in the region of "close").

The yarn is by Dragonfly Fibers, their Worsted base, which is discontinued (it's essentially the same as their Traveller base though) in the 'That Ol' Chestnut' colorway. The color is not dyed the same way any more (it's much darker now), but a close color alternative would be 'Copper Cloud' by Leading Men Fiber Arts (though I have not seen this in person to compare). I alternated skeins of That Ol' Chestnut throughout after carefully selecting the 5 balls that were closest matched, and as of yet there appears to be no noticeably different sections.

2) The Blanket
You may remember me knitting this last summer for Stash Dash. Unfortunately after I finished it I just was not as happy with it. It was too small. So I picked up two balls of a close-but-not-identical gray and knit an edging onto it

I was going to take a great picture of it but Sunshine has claimed it as hers. Surprised? no. Anyway, the slightly darker gray border that you see on the top edge extends all the way around and gives it a much more completed look. I need to weave in the ends too and then block it and get a good, cat-free picture.

3) Clapotis
I have tons of fingering yarn that's destined for projects that I haven't touched in years and years. This summer I decided to knit up one of my precious deep stash skeins of Handmaiden Casbah, a merino-cashmere-nylon blend of fingering weight yarn. Casbah is like my kryptonite: the MCN base is exquisitely plush and wonderful, and the colors that Handmaiden dyes up are to die for. I have 5 skeins in my stash yet and I still have no idea what to do with them--I just had to collect them.'

mm. beautiful. This was the Masala colorway and it turned out perfect as a Clapotis.

those are the majority of the things. I also knocked out a pair of socks, a cowl, a hat, a pair of mitts and a pair of mittens, and 16 oz of spinning. and the ugly baby hat

So, now that I finished all that stuff, I've been puttering around from project to project. I pick up yarn and just put it down again. Not sure what I want. I was worried until last night, when I found myself pulling my Baruffa Cashwool out of hibernating and starting my intricate Estonian Lace shawl again. Apparently what I am craving is "fiddly" and "laceweight". We'll see how long this trend lasts

I finished the sweater!

The sweater is done! I may at some point need to: affix buttons; weave in ends; remove life line; re-do the bind off edge if it is too tight. But the knitting is complete so I give it a big fat FINISHED stamp. This with my other FOs and spinning brings me up to 3601 yards

Now, if you have been paying careful attention, you may have noted that Stash Dash 2015 ends on the 14th of August and that I still need to make it to 5469 yards. To you I say, do not fear, for I still have one huge WIP that can turn into a FO of many yardages. The lovely blanket pictured in an earlier entry is in its last stage, gaining a border, and I am into the last ball of worsted weight as I knit that. I also have a pair of mittens that are just an inch or two from being done (an hour or two's worth of work, surely no more). So fear not! with those two combinations I will make it to... drumroll, please... 5417 yards.

crap. yeah. that's right. I'm gonna be short of stash dash by 50 stinking yards.

I'm sure I can crank out a 50 yard something (bulky hat, anyone?) but at this point I'm so bitter I don't think I want to even try any more.

Anyway, I still have 5 days left, so instead of blogging, I'm off to poke this blanket and see if I can't bang it out real quick.

Sweater is still not done; Pictures of FOs

As another month is about to tick over, my sweater is not yet complete.

I've been telling you for weeks that it's just "almost done", and that it's "so close"--I am practically checking it off as finished in my brain.

Of course, nothing happens if you don't actually knit on the thing. Knitting time has been sparse in the past 7 days, and for the bulk of what little I had, I have been working on a cowl that I've ripped out three times. after the third ripout, I realized I should just let it sit even if it is shaped wrong so I can still count it for stash dash, but yeah, that didn't occur to me until after I'd destroyed it. again.

So I picked up the sweater and did a few rows on it last night--really only like 100 stitches; I was quite tired so I ended up falling asleep with it in my lap. But tonight! tonight I have free time and an inclination to use it--and some video podcasts to watch (I think I'll add the Fat Squirrel Speaks to the sidebar once I catch up with her back episodes--she is very, very funny and great fun to watch). So, tonight will be sweater knitting. I would like to finish both sleeves--and I do think it's do-able, they're not that big and the first is only like a thousand stitches left (that sounds ominous, but think of a big shawl with 500 sts per row--that's only two rows, you know, and it may take a couple of hours but it isn't taking all week). That'll put me in a good mood for the end of July.

Meanwhile, a rarity: pictures. I got my sister to take some good shots for me when I was visiting the family, and I have a few crappy computer shots as well to share.

Stash Dash 2015 in pictures:

spinning has been very productive!

Sortedam So, 128 yards of 2 ply from a fat gorgeous batt

Dried Flowers, 220 yards of navajo-plied 3ply 100% BFL

Spring Flowers, 225 yards 2ply from Chilean (mystery) wool

I also finished off 375 yards of a beautiful skinny 50/50 merino/tencel 2ply from 4oz of Highland Handmades in gorgeous shades of purple.

As for knitting, I wanted to focus on finishing WIPs. This was pretty good motivation. I've finished:

a pair of socks for my twin; quite long

a hat and a matching pair of fingerless mitts for myself, out of some awesome Chilean yarn

A Clapotis in Handmaiden Casbah, one of my all time favorite yarns. Guess I should review this stuff at some point

and a little dress for a baby as one of my coworkers is sprogging; no pics yet though of that.

I still have in progress:

the eternal blue cowl. Beautiful MCN hand-dyed by a friend; a linen stitch border, but then I want to do some shaping and every time I do it, it's not quite right. *sigh*

This colorwork blanket that was inspired by Mason Dixon Knitting and by Rothko; I'm adding a border to it with the last two balls of yarn, so good progress on this sucker, but still not done.

The Sweater. unf, the color is much nicer in real life. Dragonfly Fibers is also one of my favorites so I suppose I should review them too!

So, it's been a productive summer, one way or another. But you see why I want to keep knitting? both the sweater and the blanket are so close to the end! and the cowl is so small, and I've got a hat and mittens and socks sitting around that are pretty small too that maybe I could finish if I could just focus on them...

The end is nigh!

After some diligent knitting over my break, discussion with my yarn and fashion inclined sisters, and a bit of "sucking it up" about actually starting the sleeves, I begin to see that I might yet finish this sweater by the end of the month!

I have knitted the bulk of the first sleeve. What remains is a knitted-on garter stitch edging that I want to do instead of the recommended garter stitch edging which is sideways. or. the normal way. I cast on about 15 stitches and knitted almost the whole way around before I realized 1) that my k2tog and k3tog at the joining point were kind of ugly; 2) that I'd started in the wrong place so if I do end up using buttons they'd be, oddly, on the underside of my arm; and 3) I definitely have enough yarn but I really should try the sweater on when it's not bunched up to make sure the length of the sleeve is correct.

When I finish this technical/tricky bit, I will do the other sleeve. Since they're half sleeves, and they started as raglan so they're half done, these are only about 5% each of the total sweater. And then when I am done I will use the rest of the yarn to make it longer, which is about another 5%. so right now I'm less than 15% from the end of my sweater and I've got more than a week left off the month.

Of course I need to do research first and foremost. but uhhh... when my brain reaches a breaking point then I take a little knitting time to give it a chance to heal.

No great pics of the sweater yet but if/when I finish it, I will be doing a photo shoot (if I can).

I can't believe I've knitted most of a sweater! I can't wait to have knitted a whole sweater!

Sweater progress

So, I was solidly monogamous on my sweater for about half a month--16 or 17 days. This includes me sitting through two movies without a knitting project. I only broke the monogamy for a three day conference where it wasn't sufficiently professional to have a giant sweater mass on my lap, and I worked on some socks instead. Then I went back to sweater knitting only--until I left on my road trip on the 25th of the month, and the sweater was not in-the-car knitting so my Clapotis got picked up.

Not-strictly-but-still-monogamous of a June, then. And it was pretty successful! I am almost done with the body of the sweater, which is worked as a whole back and forth of a large circ. I'm about three to four inches from the end. When I'm done I'll pick up the sleeves with some carefully matched colors and knit as much of those as I can.

The Stash Dash is going pretty well. If I polish off all this yarn with the sweater (which I suspect I will), I'll have knocked out another 1400 yards, on top of some 700 odd yards from spinning and the hat and mittens I finished before the month of monogamy began.

Almost typed monotony there. the sweater was.... hard. a bit of a drag, some times, when all I wanted to do was bust out something new and small. I am glad I tried it though, not in the least because I can look back at those times and recognize them as momentary distractions, little butterflies of thought in my brain of new shiny things. Staying committed to the project was a bit tough but I felt really good the week after I'd not-cheated on the sweater, a week after the urge to knit-soemthing-new-finish-it-rightrightnow had passed. I still love the sweater and want it, and with constant knitting and a dk/worsted yarn it's very satisfying to see how far I progress in a given span of time.

Separating for the sleeves was the most exciting so far, followed closely by switching to garter stitch here at the botttom.

Now it's July, and I'm on a week's vacation. I brought the sweater and am continuing my work on it, happily and with the long-term picture in mind--but the clapotis is here, just in case I finish it, or get bored, or run out of things to do.

couldn't stop myself from bringing a skein of sock yarn too, though, just in case.

Happy knitting to you :)

Really, I signed up for this

June. The sixth month of the year, the halfway point of 2015 knitting, the point-of-no-return for holidays-are-coming knitting (if that's what you do). The first true month of Stash Dash, too. For me, it's always been full of tons of planning, new projects, old wips, and fresh FOs for the stash dash yardage. using up bulky yarn fast for fun. all sorts of things.

Except this June, I'm going to try to be a monogamous knitter.

I don't think I've ever practiced knitting monogamy. Maybe my first two projects, a scarf and another scarf--but those were before I had really taken up the craft, back when I was just fiddling around. Before there was stash; when I would just go into the store, see yarn, decide I wanted to knit a scarf, and buy what I thought I needed for that project.

Now I don't have any qualms about my normal knitting polyamory. Some projects are better suited to certain situations than others, and once I started knitting in class to keep myself awake, I'd always have something supersimple and another more engaging project going on at the same time. This spread, especially as my stash grew and I got on ravelry, where I was inspired by 400 things every minute.

So, nowadays, as you well know, 10 projects on the needles that are active, plus five or so hibernating things, plus some spinning and other crafts keeps me happy and busy.

Still, I've never knitted a sweater. Well, I did knit that one in Denmark, but I improvised the pattern, it didn't fit right, it was too short, and I ended up felting it. Soooo that was more of a disaster than a project. I've never actually measured myself, followed a pattern, and then adjusted it to make it fit me. I mean, I can (and have) knit a sack that goes over my head, but that's not a sweater.

I started two sweaters since the time in Denmark. One required colorwork,and changing a pattern to be knit in the round rather than flat--rather easy (as it was colorwork, and I wanted to steek) except for doing increases and decreases in pattern, which I spectacularly flubbed on the sleeve I started as a swatch. That was three years ago and the six inches of sleeve is all I have of it, still.

The other was a fitted sweater knit in pieces and seamed that I started two and a half years agol. I decided to mod it. I wanted it to be seamless (not hard). I had to change the numbers of stitches for the yarn, needle, and my own size--so I swatched, and measured, and blocked the swatch, and measured again. But I also wanted to change the shape of the neckline and the sleeves, and I had the wrong amount of yarn, and after knitting three inches at the interminable stockinette bottom and having it be a weird size and shape despite my efforts, I abandoned that one too.

About a year ago, I finally worked up my nerve and ripped the second one out, then bravely cast on a completely new pattern. This is Harvest, by Tin Can Knits. It's well written, and it's part of their (free!) Simple Collection that's designed to help people learn how to knit. Yes, I know how to knit. but I do not, apparently, know how to knit sweaters. Also I like the construction of this, and it seems to look good on fat people as well as skinny ones. And, finally, as a top-down raglan, I could try it on to make sure it fit as I worked it. Plus, with my shortage of yardage I am hoping that I can mod the sleeves just in length.

So, I worked on it last Sept (2014) and then put it in a bag and ignored it for six months, pretty much only because of gift knitting. I finally scraped it back out of the bag, figured out where I was at in the pattern, and started working on it again at the end of this past April. But since then, and despite the ease of the pattern, the loveliness of the yarn, and my desire for the FO, I have knitted like a fiend on socks, cowls, hats, and other things.

I want this sweater. I want it to work, to fit me, to have enough yarn, to look good and be wearable, and I want to finish it. actually finish it, and be able to wear it to work for the freezing AC and to like it. Also it's gonna be like 1300 yards for Stash Dash, which I rather desperately need. How to make myself actually work on it? this monogamous thing.

So, I'm trying it. And I don't even want to tear my hair out yet! I had about an hour's worth of knitting time yesterday and today and I've put it into the sweater with nary a qualm (I did glance briefly at a pair of socks that are more than 75% done, but they meant nothing, I swear). I am enjoying how the yarn knits up, the feel of the fabric, and keeping track of how much further I have to go before I can separate for sleeves (maybe 14 rows? not too bad!). I think this monogamy thing might be working out!

In fact, I'd be really optimistic if not for one thing: It's only June 2nd.

Keep your fingers crossed that I don't crack.

Happiness is Strawberry Jam

and food from the grill and the garden, handmade pie and buns for the burgers, bright colors and good music and melted cats asleep on the couch or in a puddle of sunlight Yesterday was a really good day, and today's turning out pretty nice as well, with iced coffee and making people laugh and tending my plants, just waiting for the strawberries to peak (they look SO good). I think this weekend I'll go to the farmer's market--I want some fresh eggs and more berries and breads.

Now if I can just beat this program into shape and make some science happen, then I can go home and knit all evening with a light heart.

Still feeling lost

Transitions are hard, and the end of this semester was a tough one. I'm not taking classes, so at least I didn't have exams to worry about. But I was teaching three night-labs a week and pretty much went full-on nocturnal by the time April rolled around, sleeping from 4am to 10am. This led to a lot of grading and teaching getting done but not so much on the research front, and my attempts to eat reasonable food went right out the window (sleep deprivation does not make it easy to plan ahead and take care of yourself).

After the labs were over, I had grading for a week straight. Then I immediately went to visit some friends. Then it was graduation. then I went to see my girlfriend. Now I am at the tail end of a week of quick-hang-out-with-friends-who-graduated-before-they-leave-forever, and I love them all to bits but I am burned out pretty bad. I've spent two or three days in the house trying to get my brain to turn on again and the high-level anxiety of "OMG ALL THE THINGS MUST GET DONE NOW" to turn off. Today was a decent work day, and I pushed past the anxiety enough to end it with a productive meeting with my boss (although as I entered his office I had to fight the urge to just stand with my back to the door and burst into tears).

What all needs doing? ugh. I can't even articulate it here, there's a steaming pile of to-do lists and single items all up in my brain, and I thought I paid off all the bills but a couple more cropped up and one of them I missed so I'm getting urgent notices about it.

And I fell down at the post office two weeks ago and a bone in my wrist still hurts, so that's probably... pretty bad.

Let's think about knitting, shall we? something shiny and distracting as a reward for a hard day's work. Stash Dash 2015 has begun, one of my most favorite events of the year because it requires planning and checking off boxes, my favorite (you know how much I enjoy making lists). Today is the first day of the event, in fact. This year you can choose which goal you are working towards (3k, 5k, or 10km of weaving, spinning, knitting, or crocheting). I'm going for 5k. I hit 5k last year but only because of a laceweight-held-double shawl and held-double doesn't count this year, so I'm going to try again.

I have good odds: I've a slew of things in progress. if I finish them all, I'll be at 4460 meters, and I've got some spinning that isn't yet counted that should be able to put me over the top. In fact that's what I've finished so far today.

My 2015 Stash Dash list:
1) **done** spin dried flowers yarn from Spinnerettas
2) **needs plying** spin purple-and-green chilean wool
3) knit myself my first sweater
4) finish the Rothko blanket
5) finish a pair of socks for my twin
6) finish a hat for L
7) finish mittens for L
8) finish sky-blue cowl for me
9) finish my Clapotis out of Handmaiden Casbah Sock in the Masala colorway
10) **done** finish a hat for me out of my chilean yarn
11) knit a pair of fingerless mitts out of the rest of the chilean yarn
12) finish some gift knitting for L2

if I have time, I'll also add in:
13) knit 3 pairs of best-yarn-ever mittens (twin, sister, me)
14) start xmas present for twin
15) start next pair of socks for twin
16) work on spindle spinning for spin-the-bin

of course, Stash Dash is only 12 weeks or so, so 12-16 FOs is a lot to ask. Yes, many of these are in progress, and some of them (the hats) are almost done. But the sweater is going to take a lot of time, and I'm not sure if I'll have the patience to finish it. Still, we will see.

Do you have summer goals?

hats hats hats

Hats are fun! I didn't know!

I've knitted a few, but they were not that fun.

but these two I am currently working on--FUN. FUN!

The first one is a Sockhead Hat: 4 inches of ribbing and then 9 inches of stockinette. Easier than pie. I have decided to double the ribbing so it can be folded over the ears, and I'm just about done with it (but I'm adding length because I always always seem to want more ribbing in my hats). Soon it will be stockinette in the round forever, which is by the way very soothing but also quite fast!

The second is my own design, but it's basically a dk/worsted version of the above Sockhead Hat. I cast on somewhere between 80 and 100 stitches, did ribbing for about 3 or 4 inches, and now I'm in the stockinette part. I actually had finished the top of it and I tried it on its intended recipient but he wants more slouch and I have plenty of yarn left (I used less than 3/4 of a skein of malabrigo arroyo or rios, I am not sure which). so I ripped out the crown and am back to stockinette in the round forever.

This is the one I've got pictures of:

see? not slouchy enough.

This is the type of knitting that's getting done lately, mostly because I can only squeak some knitting in before I fall asleep, while I am at stoplights, or during meetings.

other things I am working on:

-a linen-stitch-framed cowl of some sort in gorgeous hand-dyed sky blue cashmere bulky yarn that a friend gave me for my birthday ^.^

-a skinny Clapotis--I have less than half the required yarn so I've done fewer increase sections and will do fewer repeats. I always said I would never get into this trend, but the pattern shows off this gorgeous Handmaiden Casbah Sock in the Masala colorway very well, and I would definitely wear this as a scarf, so it is happening

-a new pair of socks for my twin

those are the active things. I'm also fixing stuff up:
-a pair of mittens for a friend that needs finishing. and probably another mitten, the first one was from a different ball and there's a noticeable difference in color between the two.

-a blanket that I've decided needs an edging--but the calculations are not perfect so it's in the *thinking* stage. wee ^.^

-a fiddly lace shawl that I really need to finish the edging on (meep. the beginning edge)

things I am avoiding:
-other socks for my twin
-socks for me
-another garter stitch blanket
-fixing the cat mittens
-figuring out the purple lace
-working on the unpleasant silk hankie mitts
-doing anything for two sweaters in progress

BUT. I am spinning. I borrowed the wheel from my friend for another week and I've knocked out 4.5 oz since Sunday night (so, you know, 32 hours). I am determined to spin some very lovely things but I need more hours in the week :D

Spinning Notes

**Spin the Bin 2015 Declare Post**

My list is quite short because normally I'm a spindle spinner, and a slow one at that. I wanted to keep it realistic and still play! I hope that's ok.

I am NOT in it to u.i.o.l.i.

I am borrowing a wheel for a week (late January/early February)

BIN LIST

1) and 2): 4 oz of Thunderboom from Dyeabolical on this weird portugese merino base
3) and 4): 4 oz of Starrenicht from ITW--my first batt!
5) and 6)  4 oz of Lanitium ex Machina's Ethereal on 100% lambswool
7) and 8): 4 oz of Fibernymph Dyeworks' 100% Falkland in the Storm Warning colorway
9) and 10):  4 oz of Fiberartemis (eee!) corriedale in the Lotus colorway
11) 2.5 oz of Hobbledehoy compost batts that'll be crazy as heck
12) 2 oz of Solitude wool Border Leicester/Romney/Coopworth blend that's been ... pin drafted? combed? pin combed? something... that I'll need to spin on my spindle to try and reproduce the first half of it that I played with a year or two ago.


FINISHED LIST
(as of 11 April 2015)
1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

that leaves the Starrenicht Batt, the Hobbledehoy batts, and the Solitude rough stuff! to be done by the end of the year :)


Notes at the beginning of April 2015:
-finishing spinning and plying the last 1oz of Ethereal

Notes at the middle of March 2015:
-progress: nada, zip, zilch.
-I am trying to clear off a spindle or two so I can at least take a stab at some of my less intensive stuff
-unfortunately the spindles are all loaded with laceweight and it's taking a lot of time
-will probably borrow a wheel again--once some work stuff is done.

Notes at the first week in February 2015:
-I followed up with my plan for the epic 3-braid project, and spun up the second half of the corriedale a bit plumper, then plied with the falkland for my second skein. That turned out well, and Falkland was 100% used up.
-I had maybe 1 oz left of the corriedale from the skinny ply (because I had to attach the end to the plumper stuff to maximize yardage), so I spun up a matching 1oz of the remaining lambswool ethereal and plied those together for my third skein. Corriedale is 100% used up
-random ~1oz of ethereal remaining--will spindle spin this sucker and maybe navajo ply it to use up every bit.

Notes at the end of January 2015:
-I finished the Thunderboom; I will have to try to get a good picture of it soon. Three plied it and it turned out pretty nice. Portugese merino is pretty scrunchy/crunchy/dense/fluffy/sproingy/lofty Idontknowhowtodescribeit.

-I started my big three-braid project by spinning the Storm Warning 100% Falkland. Then I spun half of the Ethereal lambswool and plied them together (not too badly matched on the amount leftover, either). Then I spun up half of the Lotus 100% corriedale. I haven't plied it with the falkland yet--I spun it rather thin and I am thinking I will do the second half of the singles, make it a bit thicker so it matches better the width of the falkland. then I can spin up the second half of the lambswool and make it nice and skinny and ply it with the skinny corriedale. This I hope to accomplish by the end of the week, as I still have the borrowed wheel and some opportunities to use it.
-but the first plied bit is underplied so I will have to send it back through soon.

UP TO DATE By the Numbers:
15.8 oz of singles spun up; 15.8 oz plied into a 2ply, for a total of 31.6 oz worth of treadling (well, 30.6, and 1oz on the spindle) (work those feet). I have three projects  left in my <del>bag</del> *bin*. I am honestly thinking about setting up a spindle-only bin for later in the year... but I'll just have to see if I ever get around to wheel spinning again.

The borrowed wheel has been returned to its owner, although I almost cried when handing it over.

March isn't the most craftiest of times

Mostly because I'm so daaaaaamn busy.

And April's not looking so good either (in fact, I think my work load doubles in April. woot.)

Still, I finished my colorwork cowl.

This is a free pattern by Lion Brand, I think--called Hanna's Cowl.

This is v1 of the cowl, which I knit in 2013.

It looks ok in this picture but it was actually about 5 feet in circumference, which is far too long for my short frame. It also curled badly--not in the least because I knit too quickly in an eagerness to finish it in 13 days because it's really cool looking.

In 2014, I ripped it out. *sigh*.

So, this Feb I re-cast it on. far fewer stitches for the cast on, so it wasn't enormous. End result?

pretty! but too short (can't wrap it, alas) AND it still curls.

So, my choices are to a) rip it out AGAIN and knit it a third time to make it longer, but not too long (just right). b) leave it as it is and just fold it and be happy with it, or at least accept it for what it is or c) fold it (like in the image), then pick up stitches on the top edge and knit a seed-stitch band so that it stays folded and doesn't roll and is double thick and has the appropriate edgings on top and bottom.

I'm leaning for c, but I might yet convince myself that a is the right option.

I also finished a pair of socks for me and cast on another pair that turned out to be for me (I was knitting them on a plane. by the time I got to try them on they fit me and I wasn't gonna go back).
I ripped out 1 hibernating WIP (I don't know what possessed me, this yarn is hideous and I don't want to work on it. Wait, what if I added it to my shoulder cozy?) and made a wee cat toy out of the cast on edge, which broke instead of ripping back. And I am spinning the last 1oz of my 3-braids-of-blue fiasco from Spin the Bin 2015.

Between hibernating and active WIPs, I still have 15 things on the needles, and there's no counting the spinning projects in progress. *deep sigh* Don't get me wrong, I am not by any means a monogamous knitter and I love having things casted on so I can work on them when I want--but 15 feels overwhelming, and I really like having FOs. Maybe I could just *try* some monogamy. And I kind of like the idea of clearing my needles off--don't I *want* all these things? yes. yes I do.

still, some of them are epic (two blankets. a lace shawl. two sweaters that should actually fit me) and other ones require a lot of thought to fix because something's wrong (mittens+monsters; mawata mitts; witchy mitts; triangle of +2 luxury). Maybe I can just finish a few things and see how I feel.

Or maybe I'll hide from all the grading and research I need to do and cast on a third pair of socks tonight and watch x-files.

oh, I mean, really a quick list of yarn things

Oops, this is a knitting blog, not a work blog. Let me plan yarn at you, I know you all love that.

Fiber on my spindles:
1) half-done peaches-and-bruises (want to clear this off fast to start something new)
2) green laceweight (not even done with the first half. this takes FOREVER)
3) witchy bits on my turkish spindle--not a lot here but it's spinning up skinny so it's also taking a while
4) gradient of bits from Phat Fiber: also very slow work

That leaves the crappy spindle and the heavy plying spindle free, but I can't really work on either of them, darnit

Fiber waiting to be worked on:
1) navajo ply the rainbowy sparkle stuff
2) add extra twist to rainbow rambouillet
3) add extra twist to first blue crescendo skein
4) add extra twist to fresh LeM in corsair
5) finish spinning and then ply last half of romney/longwool cross, brown shot w blue and green
6) plying the sparkly batts with the Loop fluffy stuff Nebula

Fiber I want to be working on:
1) Ponds batt
2) Finch batt
3) brand new finn fiber from TWF
4) black and purple Highland Handmades
5) spinneretta's crocus stuff

stuff on my needles:
1) pair of sister socks #2, both at once
2) red laceweight shawl
3) colorwork cowl
4) edging of blanket
5) brown gradient scarf
6) Garter Squish in random wool

stuff waiting to be worked on:
1) Harvest sweater --pick it up and think about it
2) yellow mittens -- knit a third one so that the colors match
3) small purple laceweight shawl--finish and frame or what?
4) witchy mitts --thinner stripes?
5) cat mittens -- probably frog
6) takoma--figure out if I want it to be something else
7) silk mitts--pain in the ass to kit--spin instead?
8) Fwoosh thing--fugly. maybe make the weirdo cowl instead of a huge ugly wrap

stuff I want to be working on:
1) hat for Jake
2) hat for L
3) red honey cowl for me
4) mitts for aunty judy
5) new socks for me
6) new socks for twin
7) socks  for J
8)  a completely different sweater than takoma out of the takoma yarn

*sigh*

a quick list

1) make agq graphs as a function of type, redshift, and field, with error bars
2) calculate average agq for types and redshifts
3) make a table with types, avg number of gals within 0.5 Mpc, and Agq and errors (ala wold+lacy00)
4) make a few plots that describe the sample
5) draft damn poster, send to jake, mark, mark2, carol, pallavi, etc
6) call to cancel shot
7) do bills
8) do travel stuff online
9) work on kz from various papers/markemail
10) work on normalization from various papers/markemail

I keep trying to work on those last bits 'cause they've been on my mind a lot but right now 5 is most important and for that I need 1-4

oh, yes, and 11: resist temptation to knit all day.

bow chicka wow wow

oh yeah, yarn porn.

How about some Cascade 220? An internet buddy snapped this pic of Wisconsin Craft Market near Madison WI.

unf.

ahh, yarn fumes

I needed a break after a long day of programming and going no where, so I poured my sock yarn bin out onto the bed to play with.

Let's be clear, though. That's not all my fingering weight yarn--that's just the stuff I've designated for socks. There are 27 pairs of socks a-waiting for me to get around knitting them, at least. I also moved three skeins into the too-pretty-to-be-socks-so-must-be-a-shawl bin, and another two into the I-need-to-make-cowls-because-I-wear-them bag.  Also there are five pairs of socks worth of yarn in the car (which is under some snow right now; I didn't feel like digging them out) that I haven't brought in, and also three pairs on the needles.

I didn't dump out the shawl bin, but I did reorganize it by color and then picked out all the heavier weight yarns. I have been splurging on dk or heavier this year as my stash was pretty deficient in these weights, but after a year of fun shopping this is no longer the case. I have just about as much shawl yarn as the heavy stuff now! this is good news, I think, though not everything has a project dedicated for it yet. I do plan on making some more cowls, hats, and mitts or mittens for myself though. I'm a big accessory fan.

For the holidays I was gifted nearly a sweater's quantity of yarn--Madelinetosh Tosh DK to be specific, in the glorious Magnolia Leaf colorway. I need two more skeins to have a proper sweatery amount so I will eventually be ordering those--but I'm going to wait until after May. I have plenty of things on the needles, I don't need to buynowbuynoweee


Speaking of things on the needles, I've lined up two new projects for when I feel free/restless enough to cast something on. The first is another Hitchhiker shawl, or similar--this simple pattern looks pretty good with variegated yarns, and this yarn has cashmere and is highly variegated, so a shawl/scarf would be great for it. A friend of mine has happily commissioned a slouchy hipster hat, and he's picked out one of my skeins of brown, so that's waiting around for me to work on as well. Maybe I'll make a Barley hat, or maybe just a plain stockinette hat with a ribbed brim. We shall see. I like knitting hats but I don't wear them too often, so I'm glad he was interested in buying one off of me.

Meanwhile, I drew another sock yarn from the sock yarn bin (before I tossed it around like a salad, above) and it's two skeins of some long-color-repeat paton's kroy that's designated for my twin, so I guess I have another pair of twin socks back on the needles. Just what I need if I ever want to catch up... our birthday is soon and that just means another pair of socks to knit to reach the goal of one-for-every-year-we've-had.

what's that? what about all the work stuff? it's still there. I'm keeping it together and making progress, but no finished papers/publications yet!

overwhelmed

and like that with a big silent crash the wave of work that I've been surfing for a while has crashed down over me. I made a mistake and read two books for pleasure this week, but I'm all discombobulated. Now I kind of know which way is up again and I'll fight my way back to the surface. Just gotta do what I need to do to survive--don't fret about other things.

0) read and comment on Carol's paper
1) get some sort of dinner

Go teach. *sigh*. register hours.


2) re-read donoso and allatavo papers. figure out what numbers they calculate and how. bias factors require w_dm, I think
3) open up python clustering programs and look at them and remember what they do
4) sit down and have a solid think and explore equations for normalizing my continuum measurements for the LIRG paper but don't panic about it--clustering is more important now
5) go ahead and buy the Chile ticket if no word from anyone else tomorrow
6) go ahead and talk to Jackie about paying for hotels, with intent for Mark's grants to pay her back.
7) don't worry about food, just eat what I can. cook on sunday. go to kovo dinner and then go see Mich and hang out and be peaceful and don't fret. sunday will be fine
8) grade, somehow, somewhen, before meeting on Monday
9) once tickets bought, email and arrange coverage for labwork during chile trip
10) take care in, get oil change and vehicle inspection, clean it out and vacuum it.
11) check up on and pay bills
12) mail mail on way to see Mich

did I have yarn plans?

did I? I can't seem to remember, ho hum. What was I going to do when? maybe I can just look at every post in this whole dang blog.

Now all I want to do is spin

seriously, it's becoming a sickness.

I am borrowing the wheel for another week. When I look up how much a wheel costs, it suddenly doesn't seem like that much money to me. When I think about moving again I start thinking about how I could move a wheel like I move my electronics, plans, cats, and other fragile things: in the car.  I am beginning to think about how I could store a wheel.

a sickness, I tell you.

let's see if listing the things I have to do sobers me up. sometimes it just makes me feel overwhelmed and makes my eyes glaze over.

LIRG paper stuff
clustering paper stuff
HST and/or GBT proposal stuff
conference stuff
clean house stuff
cook up the food before it goes bad but I still need a few ingredients stuff
wrassle my email, schedule, and various responsibilities planning stuff
apply for two small fellowships and write my progress report stuff
read and learn stuff
fun stuff


nngh. scaaary. the only happy category right now is the fun stuff. So, what do I do first? the relatively straighforward and due-soon fellowship stuff, or the it's-been-a-long-time-I-need-to-have-progress-done paper stuffs?

also I should call the family members and the girlfriend. and clean the cat litter and make sure the rest of the electric bill is scheduled to be paid and that the phone bill isn't too far behind
um
ok hold on there astroknot, try not to fly apart at the seams

um that's kind of addicting

I plied the yarn from the last post.

Then I spun half of another braid.

Then I spun the other half
I just finished a half of a third braid, and if I didn't believe in a proper rest for singles (12 hours or overnight at least!) I'd be plying half #3 with half #2, and then spinning half #4 to ply with half #1

for those keeping track, I've spun 10oz of singles and plied 4 oz, so I've done 14 oz of spinning.

I still have Friday (and Saturday before noon) before my time with the wheel = exactly 1 week. I think my friend might let me keep using it until 5pm or so on Saturday :D

I wonder how much spinning I'll get done in that time period?

That's what I started with: 3 braids @ 4oz each on the top, another 12.5 oz of misc. on the bottom. Another 2oz of singles and I can say I'm halfway done with Spin the Bin 2015 ! in a week! eee!

truth

true to my own fickle tastes, I have spent the last two weeks NOT working on any of the projects in the last post.

Instead I spun.

it was fun.

I borrowed a wheel.

That's an older version of the Ladybug and it's a darling. I like especially the double treadle--much easier to pace, for me, than a single treadle. Also adjusting tension is pretty easy.

I get this dear for a week. I've finished those 3 bobbins (for a total of 4 oz) on Saturday and Monday, so I've got 4 or 5 more days to play with it. I think tonight I'll go ahead and ply these, not just because the wheel is faster than plying by spindle, but because the bobbins hold more than a spindle.

also I am running out of bobbins so I can't just start something new. so, good. Plying. make a finished yarn. That's not a bad plan at all.

The things I want to do next

I am still in polishing-up-last-year's-knitting (2 pairs of socks, a pair of mittens, and a hat) and working-my-ass-off mode. As always this makes me dream of what I want to knit next, or really, what FOs I want. Yes, I love the process of knitting, but the product is equally important to me. And I love to dream and plot and plan... about all the things I can't do right now. or have, as it were.

First up is shawls. I have two on the list and the first is the incredible Nymphalidea, available for free on knitty. I wasn't sure what everyone was seeing in this pattern at first but then a couple of them really struck my fancy, especially this water nymph one by knitviviknit:

I've got some blue-purple-green Malabrigo sock yarn and a nearly black Dream in Color Starry that seems to be underwashed in similar colors (I think it's Black Parade). That'll be a pairing of this:

(only it's more subtle and complicated rather than straight up bright purple)

and this:

(see that hint of color under the black? this stuff is really hard to take pictures of)

Anyway, I think it'll work out nicely. My LYS is doing a KAL for this project for the month of January, so this will be my number one priority to wind and cast on ASAP when I get back to my yarn stash (the 25th, I think).

The next shawl is the incredible Stripe Study Shawl by Veera Valimaki, and I was especially inspired by this yellow and red version by kristennn on ravelry:

I don't quite have the same colors but I do have two balls of madelinetosh tosh merino light that I've picked up in the past year mostly from swapping. My colors are copper penny:

and oxblood, which is in the mail, but which should look like this:

SO EXCITED.

Finally I really need and want a crescent-shaped lace shawl to replace the Wine in Summer I lost when the car died a few years back.
Wine in Summer looked like this:

although the colors were more accurately this:

I've acquired another skein of the Malabrigo Sock in the Abril colorway that I previously used but that skein looks more like this:

and I'm not sure if it'll turn out the same. Still, it was a quick knit (less than a month, and I was a newb then too!) and a product I wore all the time, so it's back on the list.

I am also fighting the craving to throw aside all my long-held WIPS and cast on some things that'll burn through quick stash. I want to turn every skein of worsted I have into various mitts and mittens so they are no longer there, and I want to knit all the dishcloths to use up my cotton. Speaking of cute dishcloths, though, I am in love with these guys:

and

aren't they just bloody perfect? I am sure I can scrape together enough cotton from my stash to make a couple of solid-colored dish cloths. They might even make cute gifts, if I can bring myself to part with them.

Finally, I am dying for some cowls. I wear the only cowl I've made for myself ALL OF THE TIME and it supplements my too-small-in-the-shoulders winter coat very well. Which ones do I want to make, you ask?

Another Honey Cowl:
(like pixiewear's:

except in red like this:

Though I have three skeins and anticipate using them all.

I also made this beautiful Hannah Cowl by Lion Brand Yarns:

But due to over-excitement I knit the second half of it extremely loose and had to rip the whole thing out due to gauge errors (and the fact that it was about 2x too long and stretched to me knees), so now I need to knit it again because while it existed I loved it.

I also have an urge to churn out a Duotone Cowl in bright neon colors like GarnetTearDrop's:

and a Circular Tube Cowl out of my Van Gogh Sock Yarn:

and some sort of cowl out of my starry night gradient set from Dragonfly Fibers:

Now that's not including sweaters... I want to knit a Poet's Pullover out of madtosh dk magnolia leaf and an Anzen out of a stockpile of some Patons I got for cheap, and an Iced out of my Berroco Vintage Chunky that I just got... and to finish the Harvest and the Takoma I started last year...

or socks or mitts or mittens or hat, the number of patterns for which are infinite. *sigh* guess I'd better get back to making graphs.

Spin it all up!

so, I've got the goal to only knit 6 items for other people in the coming year (2x socks for the twin, a gift for mom, a gift for my sister, a baby item or shop sample for friends, and a shawl for a friend).

I've got a goal to knit/finish knitting 2 sweaters for myself this year

I've got a goal to knit myself 2 shawls--a replacement for my lost Wine in Summer and a Nymphiladea.

aaand I've got a goal to try to play along with sock club and knit myself some socks (but never have more than two pairs on the needles at a time... gotta keep it healthy).

but I haven't played with my spinning yet... and there's this Spin the Bin 2015 challenge, which is to designate and then use stash, ~24 oz over the course of the year.

I am already keeping myself from buying more fiber because my stockpile is pretty big and I am a super slow spinner, relatively speaking.

I think I'll play along with the Spin the Bin thing. Which 24oz should I spin?

1) 4 oz of portugese merino from the Dyeabolical Yarns dyeing company in Thunderboom. This stuff looks totally awesome and feels incredibly bouncy and dense--I bet it'll be a really interesting spin.
2) 4 oz of Polwarth and silk blend in a batt from Into the Whirled in the starrennicht colorway
3) 5 oz fingering roving/ batt in the Tiger's Eye colorway from Loop (my first bullseye bump!)
4) 3.3 oz of silk brick in the Night Orchid colorway from Fiber Artemis (wooosh. that's gonna be crazy. 100% silk is gonna be fine as froghair)
5 and 6) 3.8 oz of 100% corriedale in the Lotus colorway by Fiber Artemis, which I want to then ply with either ~4oz of 100% solid blue corriedale, ~4oz of tonal blue lambswool from Lanitium ex Machina, or ~4oz of tonal blue Falkland with a hint of purple in it, from Fibernymph Dyeworks.


hmm, maybe I should spin all 4 of them up: the Lotus, the solid blue, the tonal blue, and the Falkland... and ply them in 2oz increments to make an interesting gradient. If I do that I can lopp off #3 and #4 from the list, which... frankly will save me some time. Both of those are gonna be tricky, skinny, time consuming spins, whereas this weird gradient idea would probably be aiming for a DK weight so I can make a gradient shawl.

mm, I love making plans.

spinning is the cure!

Well, I finished plying my Lakeshore yarn and spun a bit of my brown-white gradient sampler. Then I ripped out an entire sock and a half and now I'm back on knitting target :)

currently in progress:

1 old pair of socks for my twin out of sportweight yarn that I'm doing in the Hermione's Everyday Sock pattern (so simple, so fun) (10%)
1 old pair of socks for my twin (50%, just had to rip the second one all the way out and restart it because the cast on edge was too tight, alas. but I do have an entire first sock done.)
1 pair of mittens for a friend (50% as well, had to rip the second one out because it was too tight)
1 intricate lace shawl. I worked on it, I did--one row took me an hour. curse you nupps! mostly they're tricksy to purl....


that's it! If I finish 3 of them before I leave I will probably buy more yarn.