The Year of the Blanket

So, in considering projects for 2013, and in looking around at UFOs in the workroom, I'm sensing a theme.

First, I have a good number of squares of like this...


which are the beginning of Fussy Cuts Blanket

by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne.  Love it.  Can't wait to see it all together.  I'm using Lion Brand's Amazing.

 

Then I have at least 10 squares done like this, which is  the Square-a-Day Blanket

by Lorna Miser.  It's for a gift, and is on a deadline - but a long one.  Still.

 

Then I have all the yarn to do this one, and have completed one square.

 

Mitered Crosses Blanket--for Japan

by Kay Gardiner

 

I have a repair to do one my grandmother's blanket, and an ABC that I'm putting together.  And then, for Christmas, my wonderful husband who supports my knitting habit, gave me the materials for this....

 

 

Hue Shift Afghan

by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence

 

Can't wait to start!

 

So, while I do have some other things to finish, (ahem, some Christmas presents remain undone.)  And I may pick something from THE LIST from time to time, I am proclaiming 2013

 

THE YEAR OF THE BLANKET

 

Let the knitting commence!!

 

 

 



 

 

It's been a while...

I've been so scattered lately - like my whole life is a game of 52 card pick-up.  I have got some stuff done, though.....

1 pair of cloisonne mittens
1 + pair of cloisonne mittens
                        (the question before us is...how many pair can you get out of 4 skeins of cascade 220?)
1 short-ish honey cowl (for Christmas)
3 dishcloths (thus satisfying my quota for the year)

um....that may be it.  Or not.  I can't remember.

and I have started the BFF Cowl.  For my BFF.  I didn't get very far on it last night, and it turns out that's a good thing, since I was using the uncorrected pattern, and I think I'm just going to start over.  I'm excited about the project, but it makes me miss my friend, who I will not be seeing this holiday.  Again.  Sigh. 

Knitting shouldn't make you melancholy, should it?

So close it counts

Owl sweater is done!  Almost.  It's drying now, and then I have to sew on the eyes, which I have to wait until we go to a bigger town to buy.  But the knitting and end-weaving-in is done - so I'm calling it!  It came out beautiful, and I can't believe I have to wait until Christmas to see it on her.  But I also can't believe that I have it done so far before Christmas, so that's kind of a trade off.  I'll post a photo as soon as its really, truly dry, but until then, contemplate this.....

 

 

It's somewhere between the size of a walnut and a mandarin orange, and it's all the yarn I had left.  Whew!

Finished!

Finally!  Finished Gemini, and it fits, AND she likes it!  Win, Win, Win!  it even looks good with the jacket..

I'm so pleased!

In other news, started Christmas sweater, and it's flying along - found the needles I need for the sleeves today, and I'm hopeful that I'll have it finished by the end of the long weekend.  We'll see!

Dog Days of Summer

I've been knitting - honestly, I have.  I've gotten to the point of Gemini where I have to change needles, and have been waiting for my mom to finish with my needles.  I've started on a cowl for Christmas, which is turning out really beautifully.  I did my August washcloth, which I LOVED, and no one else appreciated enough, possibly because I kept showing it to them, saying "FEEL THIS!  SO SQUISHY!" and apparently, that gets old after awhile.

It's The Circle Cloth - and this isn't a great picture, but it's a great cloth.  Did I mention it's squishy?

And then Bea chewed through her leash.  So I made this - 

 

- and became obsessed.  So quick!  So colorful!  So fun!  And useful!  I think I've made all the alterations I need to - and I'm loving them!  There will be more of these in my future, I think, along, possibly, with matching collars.  Perfect for the Dog Days of Summer.

But tonight, it's back to Gemini.  The end is so close, I can taste it!

Christmas in July

Still plugging away on Gemini - just haven't had the motivation or the energy, although I did help finish the backpack that Kate has wanted made out of the fabric she brought back from Ghana.  (take-away?  Backpacks are labor intensive)  I'm ready to move on to something else - really ready - but I'm making myself finish it.  And then, it hit me.

Christmas is 5 months away.

So I need to get started on something approaching a reasonable list, and get moving!  This will remove me from THE LIST for a while, unless something on the list can become a gift (and that's a possibility - I'll have to look)  But in the meantime - I need to get my butt in gear.  Or I'm going to be one sad, tired little elf.



Not Knitting

It's not knitting, but I did finish this back a few weeks ago, in time for Kate's birthday....

And she's been carrying it constantly since.  Which is pretty amazing, since she rarely carries a purse.  It came out nice, and I'm pretty proud of it - and even happier that she likes it enough to use it!

(for those who wonder, if there is anyone out there - the book is "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" Edgar Allen Poe.")

One the knitting front, had to rip out 5 rounds of Gemini, to fix some stitches that just weren't sitting right - but I'm happier now, and plugging away.

Blech

I'm knitting along on Gemini.  Not very fast, and I kind of don't feel like it, but I'd really like to get it finished before I start on something else.  I'm just feeling kind of....

You know?

On the plus side, I did have Kate try it on yesterday, and it appears to be fitting just right.  So at least I'm on the right track.

Now, if only the motivation fairies would make a visit to my house......

Beginning Gemini

Last night I cast on  Gemini for Kate.  She has this beautiful suit jacket, black with tiny embroidered roses all over it.  NOTHING goes with it.  At least not anything I have been able to find.  It actually doesn't look bad with a black shirt underneath it, but that is a whole lotta black.  I haven't been able to find a shirt the right shade of pink, let alone one that is:  short/no sleeves (she gets hot); is fitted (because the jacket is fitted); is simple, with no or few embellishments (because the jacket has a lot going on); isn't too low-cut (because people don't take you seriously in speech competitions if you are all about the cleavage); and isn't too long/short/tight/loose/etc.  So just about the time I decided to make one, Gemini came along.  I found the yarn, bought the needles......and promptly put it aside.

(thanks to Knitty for the photo)

But it is on THE LIST!  And now, it is on the needles.  I even swatched, and got gauge exactly!  So I'm very excited!  Hopefully, it will move along quickly - Kate may even be able to wear it a little this summer, and take it with her to Florida.

Woohoo! I finished something!

Baby Sweater - done!  Knitted, ends woven in, blocked - Done!   (Ok, I still need to sew to tiny little buttons on, but whatever - I'm scratching it off the list!)

And just a few rows away from finishing a scaft, so that's project number #2!

It's not like this is the biggest, most difficult project I've ever done.  But I feel like I've been spinning my wheels, so moving forward is kind of a big deal.

I feel like I've gotten a big jump start - and that, my friends, is a very good feeling indeed.

I'm just so pleased!

It just keeps growing....

You know how, in scary ghost story movies, at some point someone goes down a hallway that keeps getting longer and longer?  Yeah.  That's what The List is like.  Sigh.

The Never-ending Scarf

I've had little time to knit, but I've mostly been working on the Star Mesh Scarf.  Or, the scarf of infinite tomorrows, since apparently, it will never be finished.  I knit, and make no progress - doesn't seem possible, and yet, there it is.  I feel like if I could just get this done, I'd be able to make some quick progress on other things.  But like Sisyphus, I just keep going, and going, and going.  Only with a ball of silk yarn instead of some giant rock.  Sigh.

Just needed sayin'.  And Mr. O'Donell says it pretty well.

One week in....

Here's the good news.  I haven't worked on anything else.  Nothing new.  Nothing unplanned.  Nothing impulsive.  I have completely adhered to my self-imposed "no new projects" rule.  I have knitted only off THE LIST.
Here's the bad news:  I haven't really gotten anywhere.  I've been working mainly on the silk star mesh scarf.  It's a four row repeat, for heaven's sake, and I still haven't mananged to make much headway.  I just want to finish something, and I'm bound and determined to cross this one off THE LIST.  I hope I still like it when I get it done.

In other news (and I'm using the word "news" pretty loosely here.....I am working on a little somethin' somethin' for an end of the month deadline.  It isn't knitting, so I'm not really cheating, and I'm trying not to spend more than an hour a day on it, tops.  And I'm actually kind of excited about it, in that way you get excited about things before you start them, when the possibility of them ending up exactly like you envision is still, well, possible.  I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Until then, I'm slogging along.  Sigh.

The Season of Finishing-Up

So, this weekend I cleaned out my laundry/knitting/furnace room.  (Sound glamorous?  Oh, yeah.)  And I decided, as I was going through my knitting, to make a pile of unfinished projects. 

Well.  My.

There are a few more than I thought. 

Something had to be done.  Even I was embarrassed.  And so we begin the Season of Finishing Up.  I will, as God is my witness, finish up or rip-back the projects that I have begun, or have bought materials for but never started.  And I will get it done in a timely manner.  Stop laughing - I will!  AND, I'm even writing it down here, so that I can't just pretend that I didn't decide that.  Theoretically, someone may be reading this.  So there.

Here is the list.  I may have to add to it later.

Alligator Bag
Star Weave Silk Scarf
New Orleans Shawl
Guitar Strap
Bird's Nest Shawl
Cotton Shirt for Kate
Gemini
Red Bamboo Shrug
Dishcloth
Cable Neck Sweater
Baby Sweater

It's going to be a long season.