Eighth Year of Projects - Week 5

Another week another finish!!  Don't expect this rate to continue!  The next round of Tour de Sock finishes up on Tuesday and I managed to finish my Odensjön Socks on Saturday!  I love the design but they are too small for my big feet.  I think I may give them to a co-worker for her birthday in August - I suspect she is knit worthy!  She did give me some raw fleece from her son's sheep (which I still have to work with!)  Here are the socks (there is a noticeable difference in the color of the yarn from one end to the other of the skein...):

It is a bit of a short post this week.  I basically spent all my spare time on my Tour socks!  I did do part of one little mitered square on my sock yarn scrap-ghan.  I plan to work on it a bit more this afternoon.

I'm not sure how much progress I will make over the next two weeks.  We are driving up to Manitoba (home) for a quick visit.  It will be four days of driving, a week visit, and four days driving back.  I am picking up some antiques from my Mom's place so we need our car to transport them!  I am bringing back a vase my grandmother painted back in the 1940s (or there abouts), an old Singer sewing machine in the original cabinet, and the best part - my great grandmother's spinning wheel (plus a bunch of things that go with it - a carder, a drum carder, bobbins, and some other stuff that I will investigate more).  I am not sure just how old the spinning wheel is, but Mom thinks she brought it to Canada from Iceland when she moved in the early 1900s (around 1905 if memory serves me right).  You can bet I will be posting pictures of all this goodness once I am back.  I hope to get the sewing machine and the spinning wheel functioning again!  The wheel likely has not been used since the 1950s and Mom said there is a little belt missing, but thinks the rest is good.  We shall see!!

I'll try to post while I am away, but I really don't think I will have much knitting time even though I will be taking along what I need to cast on the next socks for the Tour (which will be released on Tuesday evening).  I will be doing most of the driving - we prefer it that way :)

Eighth Year of Projects - Week 4

Hello everyone!!  Back for another weekly update on my projects!  I had a pretty productive week!

First I finished my Plan A Socks for Stage 1 of Tour de Sock.  I did finish them in time to qualify for a point!  I am not really that competitive in this competition and never expect to win anything, but it is nice to get a few points!  I was quite disappointed with my yarn choice for this pattern.  It does not show off the pattern at all.  I have two more 50 gram skeins of this in blue and four in shades of brown.  I suspect I will just do simple vanilla socks with the rest of the yarn.  Here is what my finished socks look like (the stitch markers are showing the end of each repeat) and a close up of the stitch detail:

And Stage 2 - Odensjon Socks - began on Wednesday.  I am really enjoying this pattern!  But I am finding something interesting with the yarn.  I am using some Madelinetosh twist light that I bought somewhere quite some time ago and there is a clear difference in the color from one end of the skein to the other.  I caked up the skein and am knitting from the middle and the outside at the same time (I like to knit my socks two at a time in tandem).  The middle is more of a light blue/gray and the outside is clearly quite a lot lighter a shade of gray.  Weird!!  Either this skein is one long super gradual gradient or there was a fair bit more color at one end.  Oh well.  Maybe this Tour will be my one with some kind of "issue" with every yarn choice I make :)  Anyway, I managed to get to the end of both heel turns before I hit the hay last night.  Today I will move on to the gussets and the feet.  I suspect I will have these done by next week's update!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!  Take care and I'll see you next Sunday!

Eighth Year of Projects - Week 3

Back for another week!  I have not made as much visible progress as last week, but I have been busy with work stuff...  I did spend all of my knitting time on my Plan A socks - the Stage One pattern for Tour de Sock.  I am about half to two thirds of the way through the gusset decreases (two thirds through one and about half done the second sock).  The Stage Two pattern will be out at noon (1pm in my time zone) on Wednesday so I am hoping to have these bound off by then so I can get a point for finishing within the allowed competition time frame. 

Here is what the socks look like right now - my yarn choice is not the best match for this pretty design...  I am hoping it shows up a bit better once it is all finished and on my feet! 

On Sunday afternoon we went to a nearby reservoir and plopped our lawn chairs down in a shady spot and just sat and enjoyed nature - it was lovely!!  Lots of people out on kayaks enjoying the nice weather.

Until next week everyone!! 

Eighth Year of Projects - Week 2

Hello everyone!!  It has been a fun, busy week here.  I have a finish and a new cast on!!  And I remembered one more pattern that I want to add to my list for 2018-19.

I finished my Miriam socks!  I really like these ones!  I enjoy color work and especially enjoy when the simple strip pattern!  It seems so easy to get into a rhythm when the colors change so evenly!  Here is what they look like all done up:

And the Stage 1 pattern for Tour de Sock 2018 (Plan A) came out yesterday so I decided on my yarn and got them cast on!  The hints for this design said to go wild with colorful yarn so I had narrowed down my choices to several of my different variegated yarns.  I can never really choose a yarn and commit to it before I see the pattern - my choice often changes once I see the actual pattern!  Anyway, I cast on and did a bit of knitting!  I managed to finish both cuffs and got a start on the first leg.  I hope to get quite  lot done on this during the upcoming week!

I also worked on some pet snuggles this past week - they make for extra simple TV knitting (I mean crocheting!).  I have two finished and a third has been started.  Here are the two that are finished (except for the ends that need to be tucked in):

And I remembered one more project that I wanted to include in my list of projects to make this year.  It is the Sockhead hat design.  I am looking forward to knitting this one up - it seems like a nice, easy knit and I can use up one of my pretty skeins of sock yarn for it!!  Which yarn - who knows yet!!

Well that's my progress this first week of YoP 18-19!!  Off to see what others have done!  Until next week!

Eighth Year of Projects - Week 1

I am back for another Year of Projects!!  Last year was my best year - in terms of posting almost every week!  I did not stick to my list as well as I could have, but I did manage to create a lot!  I used up quite a bit of stash and finished several WIPs that I had hanging around the apartment.  This upcoming year I plan to have just as much fun as last year!  I also am setting a goal to complete at least 12 projects over the year.  I should be able to meet this goal!

Ongoing works in progress:
1) Lambs and Chickens and Bunnies, Oh My! - cast on April 23rd 2017 (one sock complete although I am suspecting I may leave this as a single sock and will likely never finish the second sock...  Maybe I should make myself a collection of single socks as an art display?)

2) Sock Scrap-ghan - cast on July 24th 2014 (time to keep moving with this one!!  I currently have 101 squares complete!  Many of you may recognize that this is another long term project that slid through YOP7 without much love)

3) Rowe Cardigan - I cast this on early in 2018 and am very close to having the back complete now.  I need to get back to working on this one as I would like to have it ready to wear this upcoming winter!!

4) Miriam Socks (Tour-de-Sock 2018 Warm-Up pattern)

New plans for using stash include:

1) Stole of Many Minis - I'll use my sock leftovers for this one and will need to find a dark contrasting color as well (hopefully stash!) 
2) 198 Yards of Heaven - use Cascade yarn (this has been on my YoP list several years now - maybe this year I will get it done!!
3) Like a Cloud - use Misti Alpaca (and the lace weight I ordered the other day...)
4) Vertices Unite - use some of my existing sock yarn stash for this one - I have plenty!
5) Pet Snuggles - I plan to continue making these over the next year.  My goal is 12 (or one a month).  This is a great way to use up my old acrylics!

Plus I know I will find all sorts of fun things and fun KALs to join along during the year!  I will be participating in Tour de Sock (again) and Sock Madness (again) so those two will generate several sock projects!  I also suspect I will be drawn to some mystery KALs along the way!  

My goal for this year is to complete 24 projects!  Let's see if I can keep up the same pace as last year!