WIP-it Down - Day 6

Yesterday I worked on my cowl a little bit and also did some more work on my Cables and Lace Scarf/Stole.  Here is what they both look like now:

Today the plan is to work on my Chicane Socks - I need to either get something done on these or frog them if I won't finish them.  They are the Round 2 Socks in the Tour-de-Sock challenge.  I didn't get very far in that challenge but in my defense I was travelling around the world while the challenge was underway.

Advent Calendar Knitting

I managed to get myself signed up in time to take part in an Advent Calendar knitting adventure!  This will be a stranded scarf and I am so excited to get going.  This is an off-shoot from the Sock Madness knitting group and the pattern is Stranded Advent Scarf 2013.

We will get daily pieces of the pattern each morning beginning December 1st.  We also have one early clue - the cast on with the divider section.  One of the goals of this project is for each of us participating to spend a little time each day to relax and do something just for ourselves during this often hectic time of the year.  My plan is to spend some time each morning (preferably) with a nice cup of tea and my knitting.  I imagine it will allow me about 30 minutes each day to relax and enjoy my yarn.

I have decided to use Knit Picks Palette yarn in the following colors - Ash (the main color), Cotton Candy (the contrast color that will run through the entire scarf), and Pool (my divider color). Here is what they look like together:

And my cast on and beginning divider section is complete!  Now to (im)patiently wait until December 1st...

WIP-it Down - Day 5

I managed to get a fair bit done on my scarf/stole design yesterday.  Today I plan to continue working on that and will also do some on my cowl design.

Here is what my scarf/stole looks like now:

WIP-it Down - Day 4

Yesterday I managed to get some work done on my Lace Advent Calendar scarf that I started in May.  I completed Day 6 and did one row of the divider.  Long way to go yet but at least I have something done on it!  I plan to get some more done on this over the break.  Here is what it looks like now:

Today my focus will be on my new design for a cable and lace scarf/stole.  I am ready to begin the second repeat of the pattern now.  Here is what it looks like now:

WIP-it Down - Day 3

So I did manage to get a little bit of knitting done yesterday.  I finished those last five rows on Clue three on sock two yesterday and also managed to do some on the newest cowl design.  Here is my progress on the cowl:

Today I am going to focus on my Advent Calendar Lace Scarf.  I started this back in May and did up a relatively decent amount while on holidays, but it has been collecting dust since early June.  Time to shake it off and get back to it.  I had done up to the end of row 5 on the spacer portion of Day 6.  Let's see how much I can add to it today!!  Here is where I left off:

WIP-it Down - Day 2

So I got a good chunk of knitting done on my Solid Sock Mystery Socks yesterday - I finished Clue 3 on one sock and only have 5 more rounds to go on Clue 3 on the second sock.  I may work on this a bit more late this afternoon once I am back home.  Here is a progress picture of the socks:

Today we have church, lunch, and then I plan to help hubby paint his new office after lunch.  We should be home mid afternoon - maybe by 3 or 4.  I plan to take my new cowl with me to work on in a few spare minutes today and while hubby is driving to and fro.  I will likely switch back to the socks after we are home (or may continue with the cowl).

WIP-it Down - Day 1

So yesterday I spent a good part of the day running errands and did not get much time for crafting.  I did start a new cowl design and hope to have it all done over the next week or so and ready for testing.  Here is what it looks like now:

And today I am going to devote my time to my Solid Sock Mystery Socks.  I started these back in August and kept up with the first two (out of four) clues.  Then I got part way through Clue three on one sock and put it aside.  Now I will get back at it and see how much I can get done today.  Here is what it looks like now and I will post an update picture tomorrow to show how far I got/

WIP-it Down Week

I have a week off work for the Thanksgiving break and I plan to get caught up on some crafting projects.

My schedule will be:

Friday -- I want to start something new :)  OK so that is not a WIP-it Down goal but still...
Saturday -- Solid Socks Mystery Aug-Sept 2013
Sunday - very little extra time to craft, but I will likely work on socks
Monday - Advent Scarf
Tuesday - Cables and Lace Stole/Scarf
Wednesday - Sock Design
Thursday - Chicane Socks - either work on these or frog them!!
Friday - TBA
Saturday - TBA
Sunday - again not much time...

Monday - back to work...

So, the first two have been on the needles for some time and have not been worked on.  Time to shake off the dust and get them done (or at least get some progress made on them!!)

Each day I will post what my plans are and will post a "before" picture.

Today, though I plan to do up a quick new design.  I found a pretty stitch pattern and plan to make it into a cowl.  This morning we are running a bunch of errands so I will get moving with it after lunch.  No progress pic to start the day with though...

Back tomorrow!

Year of Projects Update #6

YAY!  I am back in a timely fashion with my latest YoP update.  I managed to get some work done on the baby afghan I am designing.  I now have 5 repeats and 10 rows complete (each  repeat is 12 rows)

Before

After

And I started two new sock designs:

8 pattern repeats done on the leg (4 row repeats)

1 repeat and 5 rows complete (10 row repeats)

The stole got very little attention this past week.  Hopefully I will find some time this week to get some more done on it. Each repeat is 52 rows and I have 32 rows complete.

Before

After (yeah, I can't see a difference either...)

My goal for the week is to finish one of the sock designs and get it ready for testing.  Check back in a week to see how far I got!

Year of Projects Update #5

Apparently I am not very consistent in regular posting here...  Anyway, I have been keeping busy with designing for the past 6 or so weeks (seriously it has been that long?!).  My test knitting for my very first pair of socks is all complete (thanks to those who volunteered!! I appreciate it very much!) and the pattern is now up for sale.

I have created a Rav designer page (which I also need to update!) here

I have also finished several more designs and have had them tested and published.  Here are the ones that are all complete:

Petals Cowl

Tilting Petals Cowl

Tri-Colored Cable Socks

The following patterns are in testing right now and are almost ready for release:

Saltine Cowl

Hourglass Headband

Airy Cowl

I am looking for some more testers for this sock pattern:  Sign-ups are over here

Hourglass Pillars

And finally I have two more patterns that I am working on right now:

Year of Projects Update #4

Missed a week in posting my update here.  I have had a fairly productive couple weeks.  I am getting closer to completing my vanilla socks - another inch or so to knit and I am ready to begin the toe decreasing!

My exciting news - I have finished designing my very first pair of socks!!  I have one sock completely knit and have the pattern all written up.  I am planning to post it over on Ravelry to have it tested for accuracy. Once the test knitting is done I will post the pattern on my Ravelry design page!  UPDATE!!  Here is a link to the test page on Ravelry!!

I have made no progress on the mystery socks and I have not touched my lace scarf...

Year of Projects Update #3

Oops! I am late in posting my update! 

I have spent most of the past week and change working on a pair of mystery socks (yes I added to my list already...)  I have knit to the end of clue #2 now and clue #3 will be released tomorrow.  I expect to have these done by the end of the month (or early September).  Here is a link to my project page on Ravelry.

In other news I have decided to try my hand at designing.  I have been mulling this over for a long time and am starting to plan out some ideas in my spare time.  I hope to have a pattern written up soon and have it ready for testing.  I am thinking about scarves, stoles, cowls, and of course socks!  I shall keep you posted!

Year of Projects Update #2

Two weeks and two finishes!!  I don't expect this trend to continue though!  Over the past week I managed to finish my Zip socks.  I was very happy to get those all done!

Other things I did this week included going over a few of my really old WIPs and mulling over what to do with them.  I will be adding them to my WIP list for this Year of Projects challenge soon.  This will be a topic for another day's blog post.  I also went through ALL my yarn and made sure all was listed in my Ravelry stash page.  This way I will know what I have and in what tub it lives.  I did a blog post showing off my stash!  Finally I managed to do up some more of the little squares for my scrap afghan.  I now have 72 squares completed (22 more from last week).  Soon I will have to decide if I want to make this into several baby blankets or into one large bedspread.

Here is a picture of my finished Zip socks.  You can see more pictures in my Friday blog post.

and a picture of how many scrap squares are now made (72 squares now):

and I made a little bit of progress on my Vanilla Socks:

Flash my Stash (August 2013 version)

So for the past little while I have been trying to organize things and sort through all my stuff.  Several months ago I had organized my yarn into several tubs and thought that now would be a good time to revisit my stash to see if it can be whittled down some or at least organized enough so that I can find what I want when I want it.  I had it mostly organized but somehow managed to not fully label everything, so that when I sent the hubby up to the attic to retrieve a tub of yarn for me I often had to have him send a couple tubs down before the "right" one made it!  So now it is time to check things over once more and to label everything (again).  What I have done is made sure each and every skein is inventoried on my Ravelry stash page and numbered in relation to what tub it is in.  I had the first three tubs labeled but the last three were not labeled when I did this exercise several months ago.  Hmmm, why did I not label the last few??  Anywho, now it has been completed!!  Below are pictures of the contents of each tub.  I have plenty of yarn and should challenge myself to use up what I already have and not buy more!! 

Tub One Part One

Tub One Part Two

Tub Two Part One

Tub Two Part Two

Tub Three

Tub Four (currently being used on my Scrap Afghan)

Clear Tub Part One

Clear Tub Part Two

Tub of Sock Yarn :)

FO Friday (August 2nd 2013)

WOW a finish two Fridays in a row!!  Don't hold your breath on this trend continuing!  But here's hoping that I do have some more finishes to report.

Anyway, on to my finish!  I signed up for Sock Madness this spring and amazed myself with how far I managed to get!  I was knocked out in Round 5 with Zip.  I put it aside for a while to work on other things (particularly Tour de Sock and vacation time) and got back to it recently.  These socks were a bit of a challenge for me.  Adding zippers in while knitting was a bit tricky and awkward for me, but I must admit to loving the finished project!  The socks are quite nice and once the zipper was in the rest of the sock was a nice easy knit.  The finishing touches took a bit more time than usual (to tuck in some extra ends and to attach the button).  I also decided to use a bright zipper - why would I go to the trouble of knitting a zipper into my socks if they are not visible??! Am I right?

Here is a link to my Ravelry project page.

Outside of the leg

Inside of the leg

My usual picture of completed socks

Close up of the zipper

Close up of the inside of the leg

I am pleased to have these all done! To see more finished works please head on over to Tami's Amis.