WIP-it Wednesday (July 27th 2011)

Here we are for another WIP-it Wednesday update.  I have two updates to show today.  Both are socks (any surprise there??) and neither have a whole pile of progress to report  - a little progress but not much.

First up my L is for "Lacy Mock Cable Socks."  I am about half way down the heel turn on the first sock.  Here is the picture (and this is what it looked like on the last update):

Second up is my M is for "Mash-up Magic Toe-up Socks."  I have a few more inches complete now but still have a long way to go.  The two skeins of yarn still do not look anything alike even though the ball bands say they are the same.  They will make an interesting pair of socks one day!  Here is the picture (and this is what it looked like on the last update):

 

To see more like this please visit Tami's Amis 

A Year of Projects - July 24th

I am back to my blogging!  I have been away at a conference for a week and then we had family in to visit so I got very little done on my Year of Projects items.  And to top it all off I have managed to get a repetitive stress injury to my left thumb - I got this from knitting of all things!! Apparently knitting socks at a marathon pace while travelling did my thumb in and I have cut back on my crafting significantly :(  It is still sore but not as bad as before! 

I did however finish off a small item from my list.  I made a set of four Cabled Napkin Rings to give to a friend for her wedding shower yesterday (she loved them!)  They were a nice, quick, and easy knit.  I quite enjoyed the project.  I started out using cotton but I didn't like knitting with that so I switched to some acrylic - much easier to work with and they look nice (as far as I am concerned)  Here is the link to my Project Page and here are a few pictures:

Cabled Napkin Rings before being sewn up

They look like they are floating!

On the napkins

Packaged up and ready to gift!

A Year of Projects - Week 1

Here I am for my first update on my Year of Projects extravaganza!!  I have been busy this first week working on some existing WIPs but I did get some work started and done on my YoP list!

First up I started working on Natural Beauty Wrap using some Misti Alpaca lace weight yarn.  So far it is coming along beautifully!! I had a lot of trouble with this yarn when I tried knitting with it so I thought I will try crochet instead and this is working out wonderfully!  Here are a couple progress pictures after three rows were completed (clicking on either picture should take you to my Rav project page for more details):



What's done so far.



Close up of the stitches.

Second up was the Cabled Headband.  I only have a small 50g skein of some mystery yarn so I tried out the guage to see if I would be ok.  I think I'll be fine but I'll check the yarn weight along the way and keep track of where I am at half way through the skein.  And it all worked out well.  This was a really quick and easy project!!  It took no more than a few hours to make!  Here are a couple pictures (clicking on either picture should take you to my Rav project page for more details):

FO Friday (July 8th 2011)

I have another Finished object to show off :)  I finished up my I is for "I Shall Name them George" Socks earlier this week!

Pattern: I Shall Name them George

Started: May 5th 2011

Finished: July 4th 2011

Needles: 2.25mm circulars

Yarn: South West Trading Company TOFUtsies

Modifications: None intentional. 

And I finished my first project for the Year of Projects blog-along.

Pattern: Cabled Headband

Started: July 6th 2011

Finished: July 6th 2011

Needles: 5mm circulars

Yarn: Gala Mix Fiber

Modifications: None. 

To see more fabulous finishes please head on over to tami's amis!!

WIP-it Wednesday (July 6th 2011)

Here we are for another WIP-it Wednesday update!  I made some more squares (about twenty) for my ATW afghan but I didn't get too much done on this over the past week since it was too warm to think about sewing squares onto a big afghan in 80*F + weather...

I have however finished my I is for "I Shall Name them George" socks.  You can check back on FO Friday to see them :)

I have started making a wedding shawl for a good friend of mine.  She selected the Peacock Shawlette and I started it on Monday.  So far I have only done up four rows...  I plan to get some more done in the next few days.  It works from the bottom up so it starts with 273 stitches cast on and every other row it decreases by four stitches.  I will pick up speed as I move along!  Here is what it looks like now:

All scrunchy

The beginning of the pattern (not much to see yet!!)

And I have cast on two new pairs of socks...  I am still keeping up the pace (barely) at the A-Z Sock Challenge on Ravelry.  I cast on my L is for "Lacey Mock Cable Socks" a little while back and finally have a little bit to show now:

And I have also cast on my M is for "Mash-up Magic Toe-up Socks".  These are my very first two at a time toe-up socks (with a gusset heel).  I am using two circulars instead of magic loop.  The yarn is supposed to be the same but I couldn't locate a place where the two skeins looked alike when I cast on.  So fraternal twins they will be.  I am actually not that fussy about having my socks perfectly matched - too stressfull!  Anyway, here is my progress so far:

I have made no progress on my K is for "Knitmore Girls Vanilla Socks" but I am going to be travelling over the next week and they are coming with me to work on.  I have a five hour bus ride followed by airport waiting time, and then a two hour flight on Friday (and repeating to come home next Thursday) so I will get a lot done then!! 

To see more wonderful WIP-it posts head on over to Tami's Amis!!

And on the weight loss front - I am down a total of 6.6 pounds :)

I is for "Icelandic Horses"

In 2003 I had a chance to visit Iceland with my Mom and a cousin.  We went to visit relatives and friends there and stayed for three weeks. It was amazing!  One of the highlights of my trip was having an opportunity to ride an Icelandic horse.  A relative of the family we were staying with had a herd of horses that they needed to move from one pasture to another.  The easiest way to do this was to ride some and lead the others (there weren't many horses - only four or six)  What a fun time!  We had to ride for about 12km :)  Man alive was I stiff the next morning (I don't get to ride often!)  Here are a couple pictures of me riding:

These are interesting horses.  They are native to Iceland and the breed has been kept 100% pure in the country.  They are also susceptible to diseases that they have never been exposed to.  If a horse is taken out of the country to be shown it is not allowed back into the country.  The horse also has five gaits intead of the three typically found in horses.  The ride is very smooth! 

A Year of Projects

There is a group over on Ravelry that have decided to knit (or crochet) and blog their way through a book (or a selection of patterns of their choosing) over the next year (beginning July 1st 2011 and finishing June 30th 2012).  I decided that I don't already have enough on my plate and thought this to be a great idea!!

Here is a list of the projects I am going to make through our year long Blog-a-long.  I have not finalized the order in which I will make these but I do have the patterns printed out and the yarn selected. All of the patterns are in my queue or I already own them.  All of the yarn is coming from my stash and I am not buying anything new to make any of these projects.  I am ready to roll!  I think I may start with something small and also have a larger one on-going.  We shall see (I also have several WIPs that have been on-going and will compete for my attention over the next year).

I'll post on Sunday with my progress (and I plan to post each Sunday over the next year with my continual progress on this) - what did I choose first and how is it coming along??  Come back on Sunday to check on my progress and see what I selected!! I'll create a page that will have all of my progress is one place (alnog with my weekly posts) I'll cross things off the list as I finish them (and I will add in a link to the post that shows my completed project blog entry and my RAV page).  I will indicate projects that are in-progress with an **

Wish me luck!!!  And please check out what other people have planned for their year of projects over here!!

1) Saroyan - use Plymouth Suri Alpaca
2) Midsummer Night's Shawl - crochet lace OR
2) Maia Shawl - crochet lace (either one using the three skeins of purple Misti Alpaca lace)
3) Natural Beauty Wrap - crochet lace - use pink Misti Alpaca lace 
4) 198 Yards of Heaven - use Cascade yarn
5) Summer Shawlette - use Berroco Comfort Solids and Heathers
6) Aimili - use Bernat Alpaca
7) Abundance Table Runner -use Bernat Soy
8) One Skein Shoe Rug - use some of my Lion Brand Suede
9) Eleanor Cowl - use Tree Frog Alpaca Sport
10) Hearts Entwined Lace Scarf - use Tree Frog Alpaca Sport
11) Fetching - use Lion Brand Wool-ease 
12) Owl i-pod cozy - use leftover WW - light color to show off the cables
13) Owlings fingerless mittens  - use light pink Vanna's Choice 
14) Owl coffee cup cozy   - use WW scraps for this - small amount needed
15) Calorimetry  - use Bernat Berella
16) One Ball Shawl - use silver blue Vanna's Choice
17) Cabled Napkin Rings - use WW scraps for this
18) Juneberry Triangle - use Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran
19) Sunday Morning Shawl - use Carnival Effects Fair Isle 
20) Baktus scarf - use Needles
21) Crochet hook roll - use Patons Classic Wool 
22) Crochet hook roll - make a second one of these but for DPNs use Plymouth Yarn Encore Colorspun Worsted 
23) Kable - use Plymouth Yarn Encore Colorspun Worsted 
24) Cabled Headband - use Gala Mix Fiber