in progress and plans

 I haven't been spinning much thanks to work being a little busier and the temperatures soaring, but with just a little practice, I started getting more consistent:

It's been pretty hot here lately so wool just isn't drawing me in at the moment though I really want to get back to my spinning. So fun! =)

(Ravelry link)

I have been knitting though. That skein I mentioned a couple posts ago? 

I started a wrap with it and yesterday was a lazy, hot day so I caught up on some podcasts and knit away in the comfort of my air conditioning. =)

This is what it looks like now:

I'm working on the 7th of 8 sections of my Wingspan. I'll have a finished pic for you soon!

(Ravelry project details)

Next up?

I picked up this gray/blue/white variegated cotton/acrylic (with a touch of sparkle) from the clearance bin this weekend and I'm thinking of a nice, lightweight summer cardi. Still deciding on a pattern.

I also finally caved and signed up on Instagram. Yeah, I should have done that a long time ago! If you're there, look me up... I'm stashless. =)

still slow... and not so steady

It's taking me what seems like forever, but I am making progress on my sweater...

 

 

I now have the body and one sleeve done and have started on the second sleeve. Once I finish that second sleeve, I'll be able to put all the pieces on one needle and work the lacy yoke. There's an end in sight! =)

(project details on Ravelry)

Haven't played with the wheel yet at all, but I have been looking at spinning fibers online...

slow and steady..

Nothing exciting yet, just lots more stockinette done...

I'm at about 10" right now and I have 3 buttonholes done so far. Getting close to having the body of the sweater done and being able to cast on and knit the sleeves before putting it all together and knitting the yoke. My friend had a BBQ last night and I brought along my sweater to work on. It was nice sitting outside chatting and knitting away. =) I need more of that...

unseasonable...

It still needs to be blocked, but my shawl is done!

(Ravelry link for details)

I even started a new sweater:

Yes, it's almost the end of May and I'm knitting in 100% wool.

(Ravelry link for details)

There's been entirely too much work in my world since last Fall and not nearly enough knitting. That's going to change! I'm taking back control over my time... expect more knitting! =)

awwwwww...

My friend took her baby to get pictured taken and used the football outfit I made for him. She took a quick shot of him with her cell so I could see.

SO stinkin' cute!!

I've been working on another shawl:

 

 Yeah, shawls don't usually look like much until you finish and block them. I'm finishing up the garter section and will be starting the leaf border in the teal. I'm adding a few extra rows to the garter stitch section to use up the remainder of the 2nd ball of brown since the border will look fine with partial repeats.

Not much detail yet, but there will be once the border's on. =)

I still have another shawl on the needles, but life has been so busy and knitting time very limited the past couple months, I really wanted something "brainless" to work on. Can't get much more brainless than garter stitch! =)

oh baby

I finished up the first baby gift for my manager last night!

(Ravelry project page)

If/when I make another of these, I'll make a couple changes, but I think they turned out quite nicely. I just hope the bag is big enough. The baby is expected to be on the bigger size... I plan to write up my pattern notes soon. =)

And I started a pair of booties for him too:

 

 (Ravelry project page)

Baby stuff is so fun! =)

on a winning streak!

It's been slow going with the knitting this week... really slow.

Yep, that orange stitch marker is where I was last Sunday. Most of that (minimal) progress was made last night after finishing up another 80-hr work week. Ugh, I'm so over the OT. My rv payments have been made well in advance, my savings account is healthy... the drive to work more is greatly diminished. lol I won't be doing that again anytime soon. I've offered to still put in some overtime this week, but it won't be anywhere near what I've been doing. Hello, knitting time! =)

While working all those hours, I've been keeping up on all the knitting podcasts I like to watch/listen to and even checked out a few new ones. Podcasts keep me sane while working through all those charts! I watched the latest podcast from TheKnitGirllls and... I won yarn! Very pretty green yarn. =) They had a contest thread to enter items knit in December using old stash yarn. I posted the cowl I knit for my mom for Christmas since the yarn was from 2008. I'll post a pic of the skein when it gets here. And no, this doesn't break my plan to cold sheep this year! lol I didn't buy it, it doesn't count! My friend also has offered to buy me a skein of yarn from a LYS for my birthday. I'm thinking I might get fiber instead though since I really think I'll be ordering an espinner soon!

Speaking of spinning... I found an interesting podcast this week - Vegan Eco Fibrecast. Sorry, I haven't been able to find it online so I can't link to it. Sadly, there are only a handful of episodes and the latest was posted last June. It was an interesting listen though. The podcaster discussed her experiences spinning with different plant fibers as well as some of the reasons she doesn't use animal fibers. I'd really like to get away from using so much (if any) animal fibers in the future unless I know specifically where it comes from and that the animals were treated well. That pretty much knocks out any commercial yarn purchases. I've had this plan in the past, but have stumbled when I came across a deal too good to pass up. This year of not buying will help break that bad habit of mine. I don't plan to ditch the wool/alpaca/silk that's already in my stash, but I feel I have the responsibility to make more conscientious purchases in all areas of my life. How fun would it be to learn to spin with plant fibers though?! =)

I also received a free pattern this week. A mitten pattern was designed to match the hat I posted last week and because I took part in that KAL, the designed gifted me the pattern for the mittens. =)

I think I'll knit up a pair with the remainder of the acrylic I used on that last hat so I'll have a set to add to my giftable knit items. The pattern for the Intersecting Mittens is available on Ravelry.

Hopefully, I'll have more knitting progress next weekend! =)

crazy payoff!

I watch a lot of podcasts these days and one of my new favorites is The Fat Squirrel Speaks. If you're up for some fibery fun, you should definitely go check her out. She's hilarious! Really. Go! I'll be here when you get back... =)

Over the holiday season, Amy Beth (of the above podcast) had a contest in her group on Ravelry for everyone to post their crazy. Mine? Knitting way too many things for Christmas! She did the drawing and guess what? I won an ebook! Such cute patterns too. This is the ebook I won:

I think that hat on the right will be the first one I try. Love it!

I also was gifted a pattern from a friend for my birthday! Aren't I the lucky girl?! I've seen this shawl (Piper's Journey) on a few podcasts and love it. I'd planned to buy the pattern when I was ready to start it so had it in my queue. =) Isn't it pretty?

I've seen this done in two colors and love the effect! The garter will be nice and relaxing and that lace edging is just enough detail to keep it interesting. This might end up being the year of the shawl for me. =)

Speaking if shawls, I've started on the shawl I'm testknitting but all this overtime at work is killing any knitting progress! It's just far enough along to start showing the pattern well when stretched out, but it's still so tiny!

It's difficult to stretch it out and take a photo. I promise a good shot when it's completed and blocked. =)

I did finish the hat I posted last week:

Not a great pic, but it was dark already when I finished it up on New Year's Eve and had to take a shot to post for the KAL. =)
(project details on Ravelry)

Want a peek at some of what I plan to use use up this year?

The fingering weight yarn on top is what I'm using for the current shawl. The oatmeal color yarn underneath is destined to become a sweater, though I don't yet know which pattern. The cream wool on the left will become a sheep hat:

Isn't that adorable?? I plan to dye some of the skein green for the grassy part. No new yarns, remember? =) I also have a bag of baby-appropriate yarns:

Mostly cotton and cotton blends with just a two small skeins of acrylic.

And I just had to share my little goofball:

Reilly's a good distraction from all the paid work! =)

Hope you had a very merry Christmas!

 I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! =)

It was another week of working a lot and knitting very little. I did cast on for a hat this week for a knit-a-long and I'm nearly finished:

Could have been done days ago, but after work, I've been choosing my pillow over the needles. Hard to believe that I was working 14-hr days on a regular basis this time last year with two full-time jobs. Guess I'm getting old... lol
(project details on Ravelry)

Oh! I did finish the pair of slippers for my friend in time for Christmas:

Not sure they went over that well, but they were done in time at least. I'm determined to finish up these skeins of acrylic if it kills me. lol
(project details on Ravelry)

I did take Christmas off and spent the day with my friend's family. We opened gifts in the morning then headed to her husband's parents place in northern Idaho for the afternoon/evening. I wish I could say it was drama-free, but it was much more like being with my own crazy family than I'd have preferred. The holidays seem to bring out the best and, sadly, the worst in people. At least this wasn't my family drama and Reilly got to have some fun!

This was just before he let loose with a barrage of barks letting those deer know he was in charge... or at least thought he was. heh Not sure what he would've done had there not been a window in between him and those 10 deer! These were young... maybe most will be pulling Santa's sleigh next year? =)

little time for yarny fun

You're expecting a lot, aren't you? I know I was! After the past couple weeks, I expected at least a couple finished objects, but that was not to be. Why? One word... overtime. Yes, it's that time of year. It seems to always hit around the holidays and it hit hard this week. I'm thankful for the opportunity to earn a bigger paycheck especially with the slow time of year quickly approaching, but 12-hr work days sure do cut into the knitting time! =)

I stayed up late last night and I did finish this:

That's the last hat that needed to go into the mail for Christmas! =) I finally settled on a pattern for this hat. I've made this pattern once before and really liked it the first time around. I really like it in this less-contrasting color combo as well and can definitely see knitting this up again in the future. This one turned out a bit large. I'm usually a tight knitter, but apparently I knit more loosely in acrylic... no time to reknit it so I'll just include a note for him to let me know if it's too big and I'll make another out of the leftovers.

(pattern and yarn details on my Ravelry project page)

I started this:

a few days ago, then switched to the hat since it had to go in the mail. This should be a wide headband by now... but it's not. The original pattern is written for bulky yarn, but it came out super wide in that and I switched to fingering weight yarn held double - much better! I don't really like how the increases look on the right though. Yes, this part will be under her hair, but still. With all the OT, I'm doubtful this will be finished for Christmas anyway, so I'm thinking of frogging it and starting over. Good thing I have something else for this kid! =)
(yarn and pattern details on my Ravelry project page)

I've spent a lot of time working the past several days, but I did take a break Friday night for a Christmas party. I can't believe Christmas is so close! Everything is going in the mail tomorrow, but I still have a project in the beginning stages that I haven't had a chance to work on much and still need to make something for my friend who's letting me park in her yard... the same friend who decided I needed to finish up one of her intended Christmas presents and finally handed it to me as I walked out the door yesterday so now it's in my rv. *sigh* I can't say I have any urge to work on it though. I'd rather rip it out and start fresh rather than try to fix what's already done, but as long as the OT holds out, I'll barely have time to mess with it at all if I want to finish my own projects.

I think she'd maybe be more understanding if she had a job, but she seems to think everyone has as much down time as she does. She might just be getting a ball of yarn and an IOU for her gift this year so I can finish that blanket for her. lol

a little slower now

Well, the craftiness has slowed a bit the past week. Other things have taken priority lately - things like showing my trailer, packing up and shopping for an rv. I bought an rv this past weekend! It's a 28' class c and I really, really like it. I can't wait to get in there (and out of here) and start personalizing it a bit and getting the critters adjusted to the space. I have a feeling the cats will LOVE the loft above the cab. Thankfully, it's new enough that the decor is not hideous so I get to work around neutrals. =) Pics will come soon. I pick it up on Friday!

Craftiness has not completely come to a screeching halt. I've been working a bit here and there on my crochet bag and made some progress:

I love how the yarn is flashing. =) I just started the 3rd ball last night. I'd originally thought this yarn would make a good summer purse, but things have changed in the year since I started this. lol I'm considering tossing out that idea and instead turning it into a basket/bag for the rv - bathroom maybe? I'll make it a bit taller and work in some slit handles so it can be folded over for sturdier sides or left tall and carried by the handles.

a little yarny goodness

Ahhh, I finally got a bit of an urge to play with yarn again and pulled out my bag of WIPs last weekend.

Since I moved at the end of July, I've worked on a crochet bag (Ravelry link) a bit. This is what it looks like right now:

Yeah, I'm not impressed either.

There are also a pair of cotton socks in the WIP bag... that look exactly the same as they did when I posted about them last April. heh

The last thing on the needles is a blanket. I started the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket (Ravelry link) last April. Yeah, almost a full year ago and I was still maybe 2/3 of the way through the first block. lol That's what I've actually been working on a little this week. Now? It's about 16" x 20" and looks like this:

It's not massive yet, but it is garter stitch and done on a US6 so really, there's more knitting there than it seems. =) I'm liking the color combo though.

Weather's been crazy here, vacillating between snow, 70s, hail and torrential downpours (that we're having right now), but we have had some sunshine and critters are happy about that:

not much to see

At least, not much in the yarny department.

I've worked on my crochet bag and finally started the 2nd color. With the amount of stash I have... how is it I didn't have the cotton I needed to finish off this bag?! The main yarn is super busy, so I didn't think any of my brown cotton (all variegated) would work. Being in a small town and an hr from any real craft stores, I headed off to Walmart in hopes that I could find a solid brown.



One choice... but it works. This is also probably the first time in years I've paid FULL PRICE for yarn! Thank goodness it was cheap cotton. I like the stitch I'm using, but boy does it eat yarn. Thankfully, I started with a mondo skein of cotton so I don't have tons of ends. Getting excited to finish this though. It's been going far too long - cotton's a little tough on the hands.

The garden is getting it's share of visitors these days:



The peas are way bigger than that now. They got beaten down by the storms that passed through last night, but are bouncing back nicely. =) The flowers look a little worse for wear, but I did make a few photos before the storms had a chance to do their harm.

WIP Wednesday

Ah, the messenger bag.

Yes, this is the one I started ages ago!

I've spent the past few days here in Buffalo working on the body portion of the bag - perfect while watching movies in my hotel. It finally came off the needles last night! Woo! Not enough left to make the strap from the same yarn - that leftover bit will be knit up into an interior divider instead (ugh, more stockinette). Wishing now I'd thought to bring the contrasting color of this yarn so I could knit up the strap as well. I did bring a bit of cotton though, so I'm not yarnless. lol The plan is to overdye this tan in a chocolate brown and use this

for the strap. What do you think? (Any suggestions on dyeing also gladly accepted.)

Current WIPs

Let's start with the most recent, shall we?

 This blanket (Ravelry links, y'all) was started back in mid-Feb... this year. I was working in Dayton. When I left, this went into its bag and has not re-emerged since. I really need to pull that out. I knit/crochet a lot more on the road than I do at home and I've been mostly at home since Dayton.

You want to go back a bit farther, you say? How about this?

My Top Down Button Front Capelet, started back in September in Buffalo. Yeah, hasn't made it very far though... I'm getting the urge to pick this back up as well.

More? How about the felted messenger bag that got as far as a swatch and about a foot and a half in length?

Hey, it's only been on the needles since July! heh I'm taking this to Ohio with me in a couple days. Nice, brainless knitting. Probably taking that capelet too just to have a choice.

Can you take a little more? There's the afghan I started last April and had big plans for...

 I'd planned to finish a square each trip out on the road. I guess those plans didn't quite pan out. heh I do think this has some emotional baggage attached though. Someone else in the house decided to follow suit and give this afghan a go and well, I kinda lost my will. I was debating whether to finish this block and move on or just frog what I have done and maybe come back to this later on. I'm thinking frog. So, one less project on the needles...

Speaking of frogging. Remember this?

I'm frogging this today too. Finally.

Let's dig farther, shall we? Last, and smallest... a book scarf started for my mother during her crazy Harry Potter phase.

Yeah, that was started in September... 2007. hahahaha Most boring thing I've ever knit... and on such teensy needles to boot. I think I'll take this too, try to knit on it and if that doesn't happen, I'll frog it.

It's apparently Spring cleaning time for WIPs too! Off to frog...

Had to come back and add this pic. Frogging complete! =)

Yay! Feels good to finally have those off the needles and the possibilities wide open once again. My mother about passed out when she saw me frogging the sweater. How could I possibly rip out something so close to being finished?! heh I didn't love it, that's how. I LOVE the yarn and want it to be something I will love and wear for years to come. That sweater wasn't it. Man, that was fun to frog too! Not sure now why it took me so long to get around to doing it...

Oh, as a follow-up to yesterday. My mother did finally tear herself away from the tv and go to the store... at 1:30 in the morning. I guess there's not much on that time of night. That, and I'm guessing, she didn't worry about "putting on her face" for a trip to Wal-mart in the middle of the night.

Not huge... but it's progress (for me, if not for the publishing industry)

I'm up to about a 17" square... and I'm liking it so far. I'm alternating the number of rows of each color, though I need to keep larger stripes of the tan multi since I have so many more of those than the others. 

A nice, easy, mindless project to work on while watching more sports these two weeks than I have in the past year! heh Yep, I'm a total sucker for the Olympics.

It's a nice balance for my techy side.

Thankfully, I had a gift card from hotel points and downloaded a few books to my nook soon after I got it... and I'm not a super-fast reader so most are still unread. Publishers are in an uproar over ebook pricing, thinking they're losing a lot of money on hardcover book sales. Apple did their part to screw up pricing with the iPad as well by agreeing to higher prices with the publishers. Ebook prices on B&N have jumped significantly over the past week... and many I've seen continue to rise even after the initial increase. Two books I splurged on (whew) and purchased for just under $10 apiece... are now $18-19 each! Ridiculous. I don't know about others, but I can't even recall the last time I purchased a new hardcover book so they're certainly coming out way ahead on me. I refuse to pay those prices for something I'll read once and give away. I already thought many ebook prices were too high since the publisher/bookseller is already saving in printing and shipping/packaging costs on these electronic files, but now? I'll definitely be watching the mark-downs and occasional freebies offered on B&N... aking with the large number of always-free ebooks available online from various sources. Raising the prices just means fewer sales... from my end at least. The majority of my prior book purchases were either inexpensive paperbacks... or more often, used paperbacks. The only books I'll buy soon after release are occasional must-have cookbooks, but even those are most often paperbacks. We'll see how long this lasts. I have to think that at some point, the publishers will wake up and realize they need to embrace the new technology and cater to their customer base rather than trying to hold onto the past. Times change, businesses need to change too. Have book publishers learned nothing from the music industry?