Tenth Year of Projects - Week 2

I am back for another Year of Projects and I am already a week behind!!  I have attempted the Year of Projects several times now and I don't think I have stuck through it for an entire year yet...  Oh well, I still have fun with it!  I am setting a goal to complete at least 12 projects over the year.  I should be able to meet this goal (hopefully)!


Ongoing works in progress:
1) Sock Scrap-ghan - cast on July 24th 2014 (time to keep moving with this one!!  I originally wanted to make this into an afghan, but have since decided to scale it back to a wrap.  I want something to throw over my shoulders while watching TV in the winter (our living room is cold and drafty!).  It will measure 25x13 little squares.  I currently have 108 squares left to complete!  Many of you may recognize that this is another long term project that has appeared in several YOPs!

2) Stillness Shawl MKAL - this is a mystery knit along by Helen Stewart that I cast on June 25th 2020.  We get one clue each Thursday in July (5 clues are already out and I am up to date on this project!)  I won't post pictures here as it is still a mystery.  I have shown it in detail on my podcast (linked below) so if you wish to see it please take a peek.

3) Tegna - this is a summer sweater that is by Caitlin Hunter.  I cast this on June 28th and am making decent progress on it.  There are more details on my Ravelry project page and I also show off my progress in my podcast this week.  I have been eyeing up this pattern for some time and am happy with the knit so far!  I am done with the lace portion at the hem and am now onto the knit portion - round after round of knit!  

New plans for using stash include:
1) Damejakka Loppa - The Flea Cardigan - I have the yarn for this (just bought it from Holst in Denmark) and am ready to cast it on once I have completed one of my current WIPs.  I love the look of this cardigan!  And I am excited (and scared) to try steeking for the first time!

2) Boxy - I have wanted to make this for some time as well!  I might dye my own yarn for this - we shall see!

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 Sock Madness (again) so that will generate several sock projects!  I also suspect I will be drawn to some mystery KALs along the way!  

I also spend some time showing my progress on my projects on my podcast.  I just posted a new video on Saturday in case you want to check it out!

My goal for this year is to complete 12 projects!  Let's see if I can!  And let's see if I can finally complete my Scrap-ghan!

Eighth Year of Projects - Week 22

Today is Week 22 of the Eighth Year of Projects, NaBloPoMo Day 25, and Day 11 of my self imposed WIP-it Down Week!  

I have had a very productive week!  I have worked on each and every WIP over the past eleven days of my WIP-it Down Week and I am sad that the week is nearly over (and that I need to go back to work on Monday).  Oh well, the Christmas break is not far off now!

My Sock Scrap-ghan looks the same as it did last week so I won't bother showing an update picture :)

I made progress on my Vanilla Christmas socks - I have finished the gusset decreasing and am moving down the foot now.  Here is where I am:

I made progress on my new sock design too.  I had the cuff done some time ago and now have added two repeats on the leg.  I am considering whether to add one more repeat or not.  I am leaning towards adding it...  Here is where I am now:

I worked on my Rowe Cardigan and have finished the ribbing on both the front pieces.  I am knitting these two at a time to make sure they are both nice and even.  Next up I need to get moving up the cable portion! 

And I worked on my Texture Time Shawl.  I am still a long way from being close to finished this.  I am not even half way done yet, but I am still enjoying the knit!

I also cast on two new projects this week.  I know - I was on a WIP-it Down mission, but...

New cast on number 1 - the Advent 2018 Scarf.  I knit the initial ribbing and the daily clues began to appear yesterday.  I am working on Day 2 right now.  here is a picture of what it looked like at the end of Day 1:  (the markers will show the end of each daily clue)

New cast on number 2 - the Julenatt Mittens (a Mystery Mitten KAL by Skeindeer Knits).  The first clue for these came out on November 21st and the second clue came out yesterday.  I am still working on Clue #1 on mitten #1.  Here is what they look like now:

And finally I posted my newest podcast early this morning.  

Over the next week I plan to try to keep up with my two new KALs.  I also have bought some fabric and I want to try to sew myself a couple of project bags!  Hopefully I will have those to show you next week!

Until then...  

WIP-it Down Week Thanksgiving 2018 - Day 8

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the United States who happen to be reading this today!  I plan to spend my day cooking (nothing too strenuous!), eating, and knitting!  Sounds like a good day to me!

Yesterday I worked on my Vanilla Christmas Socks and added ten more rounds to both feet.  Slowly making some progress! 

And I cast on the Julenatt Mittens by Skeindeer Knits (her current mystery mitten pattern).  Clue #1 came out yesterday and I got a little bit done on that (only eight rounds on the first mitten).  This clue has us doing the cuff and I like the way it is looking!  Here is the little bit I have done (it is so small that I need to hold on to it to photograph the poor thing!):

Today I plan to work on my Texture Time Shawl.  I am hoping to finish Clue #3 on the first half of the shawl today - we shall see if I manage that!

Hubby and I are spending a quiet Thanksgiving Day together.  We got ourselves a small turkey (8 pounds) and I'll get that into the oven a bit later.  We also plan on having corn, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. It won't be very colorful, but it will be delicious!! 

Until tomorrow my friends ♥

WIP-it Down Week Thanksgiving 2018 - Day 7

Here we are back for another day on my self-imposed WIP-it Down Week! 

Yesterday I got a goodly amount done, plus we went out and did some shopping too.  I finished the ribbing section on the two front panels of my Rowe Cardigan.  Here is what it looks like now:

And I cast on the ribbing portion of my Advent 2018 Scarf.  I think my hand dyed yarn will work out just fine!  I am excited for the new clues to begin coming out every day later this week!  Here is what the ribbing looks like:

We also went out and did some shopping yesterday.  I found a few things - a couple knitting books, some little Christmas decoration things (lights - which will probably make an appearance in my next podcast), and a laminator (found this at my local Goodwill for $4 - I have no sheets for it so I will have to wait to test it out!)

I am not 100% sure what today holds!  I am thinking I may do some sewing and work on a project bag - I just need to decide on what pattern to try!  I suspect it will be a drawstring bag with a boxed bottom.  And the first clue for Skeindeer's Mystery Mittens (Julenatt) came out earlier this morning.  I imagine I will cast those on today as well.  The second clue comes out on the weekend.  I think I may be missing the point of my WIP-it Down Week!!  hehe  Here is my yarn selection for the mystery mittens:

WIP-it Down Week Thanksgiving 2018 - Day 6

Welcome to another day of my self imposed WIP-it Down Week! 

Yesterday I managed to get a goodly amount done on my new sock design!  I am nearly finished the leg!  I am contemplating where the best round is to transition into the heel flap and I may have another 4 rounds to go before I am ready for that.  I'll mull it over until it is time to pick up the socks again for their second day during WIP-it Down Week!  Anyway, here is what it looks like now:

Today I plan to work on the two front pieces on my Rowe Cardigan.  I may also cast on and do the ribbing on my Advent 2018 scarf but I will see.  If I finish the ribbing early then I will get moving on the scarf and will come back to the Rowe Cardigan after I have finished the ribbing. Or at least that is my plan so far this morning!  The hubby and I may run out to do a bit of shopping today also.  If we do that it will eat into my knitting time...  What a tough life :)

WIP-it Down Week Thanksgiving 2018 - Day 5

Back for another WIP-it Down day!  Today I am going to spend all my knitting time working on my sock design.  When I last worked on this I left off after four rounds beyond the cuff - so basically not much was done...  Here is a picture of where I was at the beginning of the day - here is hoping for a decent amount of progress!

Yesterday I got a good amount of work done on my Vanilla Christmas socks.  I picked up all the gusset stitches on both socks and managed to get all the way to the end of all the gusset decreases before I turned in for the day.  Not to continue along the feet, although with a size ten foot that takes a little while...  Here is what the socks look like now:

Until tomorrow everyone!!  I think tomorrow has my Rowe Cardigan as my project of the day!  Looking forward to working on the two front panels!

Eighth Year of Projects - Week 21

Today is Week 21 of the Eigth Year of Projects, NaBloPoMo Day 18, and Day 4 of my self imposed WIP-it Down Week!  Whew!!

I have had a good week crafting even though I had quite a few work commitments interfering with my crafting time!  My WIP-it Down Week began on Thursday and I have been able to give some attention to a couple languishing projects!  

I finished the sleeves on my Rowe Cardigan!  I am happy with that and now am ready to begin the two front panels.  This sweater is getting closer to completion! YAY!!  My progress this week on the sleeves is from the green marker:

I shook the dust off my Sock Scrap-ghan too!  I tucked in some tails, I sorted all my sock yarn balls into two baskets - already used in the blankie and still need to be used in the blankie - and I added three little squares.  Hopefully I can add several more squares later in the upcoming week when I devote a second day to this project. The red, brown, and blue squares are the new ones:

And I have spent some time on my Vanilla Christmas Socks.  I am now ready to pick up and do the gussets.  I usually gauge myself as around half way through a pair of socks once I begin the gusset decreasing!  My progress from last week is from the blue marker:

I also did a couple rows on Texture Time, but will wait and show a picture next week as it looks very much the same as last week!


And finally I dyed three skeins of yarn to begin the Advent Scarf 2018 pattern!  I will cake up the yarn and cast on the ribbing this week sometime this week. The regular clues will begin to appear daily on November 24th.

I also posted Episode 10 of my podcast last night!

WIP-it Down Week Thanksgiving 2018 - Day 2

Good morning and welcome to Day 2 of my WIP-it Down week.  Yesterday we had a snow day and the university was closed, but I was already at home with no plans to go anywhere!  I have seen reports that we got between seven and nine inches of snow!  It is expected to reach 40F today so much of it will melt! 

So I had plenty of time to knit yesterday and I also spent some time in the kitchen.  I finished the sleeves on my Rowe Cardigan!  I had also hoped to start the two front panels, but I didn't get that far.  I'll tackle those pieces on my second day I work on Rowe.  Here is a picture of the completed sleeves (my progress is from the green marker to the top of both sleeves - working them two at a time):

And I show on my vlog what I was doing in the kitchen and also show a bit of the snowfall. 

Today I plan to work on my Sock Scrap-Ghan.  First I need to count how many squares I actually have done, second I need to tuck in a few ends (I try to keep up with this so it is not too daunting!), thirdly I want to go through all my little sock scraps and see which ones have not appeared in the blanket yet, and fourthly I need to get knitting on this again!!  Here is what the blanket looks like now:

Check back tomorrow to see how much progress I made!!

WIP-it Down Week Thanksgiving 2018 - Day 1

Today is NaBloPoMo Day 15 and Day 1 of my self imposed WIP-it Down Week.

I have a little over a week off work for the Thanksgiving break and I plan to get caught up on some crafting projects.  Each day I plan to spend a goodly amount of time working on a specific project with the goal of creating some finished objects - or at least the goal of showing all my projects some love!  
Each day I will post what my plans are and will post a "before" picture.  Then the next day I will also post the "after" picture to show what progress I made.  I will also be vlogging about the process.

In general, my schedule will be (but will be subject to change along the way):

1. Thursday - Rowe Cardigan 
2. Friday - Sock Scrap-ghan
3. Saturday - Texture Time
4. Sunday - Christmas Socks
5. Monday - Rowe Cardigan
6. Tuesday - Sock Design
7. Wednesday - Sock Scrap-ghan
8. Thursday - Sock Design
9. Friday - Sewing a project bag
10. Saturday - Texture Time
11. Sunday - Christmas Socks and Advent Scarf (the first clue comes out this day)
12. Monday - back to work...

Today is Day 1!!  I am ready to work on my Rowe Cardigan today!  I am getting close to completing the sleeves and hope to get them done today.  Being able to begin moving along to the two front pieces of the cardigan would be wonderful and I hope to get onto the ribbing of that today.  Here is what the sleeves look like at the beginning of the day and tomorrow I will post a picture of where I finished off by the end of the day:

I will also be vlogging about my WIP-it Down week.  Earlier this morning I posted my introduction video.  Today I will document my activities for Day 1 and will post that in the morning on Day 2.  So basically I will be one day behind in posting!  Here is a link to the Intro video on YouTube.

NaBloPoMo 2018 Day 13

Good morning!  Not much new around here.  I was at work most of the day yesterday, then we went out and found some groceries, and in the evening we went and saw the movie "The Grinch".  It was a fun day, but not much crafting was accomplished.  I did a few rows on the heel flaps of my Christmas socks in the morning and that was about it for knitting...  Oh well, this evening I hope to get some more done!

Only two days left at work and I am ready to begin my Thanksgiving break (a few days early).  There are no classes next week at school, but since my classes are on Monday and Wednesdays I plan to begin my break on Thursday!  I plan to do another WIP-it Down Week as I have done in previous years.  I plan to lay out all my WIPs (five of them) and will plan out a focus project each and every day.  On each day I plan to spend all my crafting time working on a specific project.  This way I "force" myself to spend some time on my languishing projects and (hopefully) make some progress on everything!  I shall be posting daily updates and I plan to vlog about it too.

Take care everyone and I'll see you tomorrow!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 27

Happy New Year everyone!!  I hope everyone had a nice 2017 and I wish everyone all the best for a wonderful 2018!!

I have a list of things to tackle in the new year!  I plan to finish up some things that should have been completed in 2017, but did not quite make it off the needles.

My list:
1) Block my Advent Scarf - the knitting is complete but the blocking needs doing

2) Finish my Advent Cowl

3) Finish my 2017 Temperature Scarf - I am complete to the end of December 13th...
4) Finish my December BAMKAL squares and assemble the afghan
5) Finish my December BAMCAL squares and assemble the afghan

I am hoping to get all of this crossed off the list by the end of January!

While travelling over the holidays I also cast on a pair of vanilla socks using some of my own hand dyed yarn. I am loving how it is knitting up!  I plan on getting back to those soon as well!

Happy New Year everyone!!  May 2018 be your best year yet!

WIP-it Down Week Thanksgiving 2017 - Wrap Up

Today is NaBloPoMo Day 27 and my self-imposed WIP-it Down Week is over.  I have to go back to work today and my crafting time will be reduced again.  I think I had a very successful WIP-it Down Week!  I managed to get some work done on all my WIPs with the exception of one.  I finished one charity afghan and brought two project very close to completion.  My happiest accomplishment is in nearly finishing my Coffee Cantata Socks!  These have been languishing for such a long time and they are almost done now.  I had hoped to finish them yesterday but didn't quite make it - I am part way through the toe.  It will become a finished object after I get home from work this afternoon!!  Once I am finished my Coffee Cantata Socks I will get back to the Mystery Socks.  Those are also getting close to completion!  I imagine I might have those done by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest!

Here is where my Coffee Cantata Socks are at now (SO close!!):

So a summary of my WIPs and where they are at now:
1) Temperature Scarf - all caught up on rows and only a few ends to tuck in
2) Coffee Cantata Socks - so close to being done!
3) Mystery Socks - getting closer - I am on the foot of each sock now
4) Find Your Fade - shook the dust off this and got some work done on it
5) Sock Scrap-ghan - added some squares here
6) BAMKAL - I am all caught up now!  Only two squares to knit (and then 7 to block) and assembly.
7) BAMCAL - Got one afghan made, caught up on my squares, and ready to assemble the second afghan once the December squares are released (and made)

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 22

Today is Week 22 of the Seventh Year of Projects, NaBloPoMo Day 26, and Day 11 of my self imposed WIP-it Down Week!  This is the last day of my self imposed WIP-it Down week since I am back to work tomorrow morning and I had left this day to be a free day to choose whatever I wanted to work on.  I think I will work on my Coffee Cantata Socks today in hopes that I can finish them off!  That would be wonderful!  I have only one foot to finish and this is done!  Cross your fingers that you see a finished object tomorrow!

I also need to catch up on a few days worth of rows on my Temperature Scarf.  I neglected it for the past few days.  I need to do 6 days worth of rows (so a total of 12 rounds at 80 stitches per round).  I'll get that done first and then spend the rest of the day on my socks.

Yesterday I managed to get a fair bit of work done on my Find Your Fade Shawl.  I figured out where I left off and managed to add a goodly amount to it.  I finished off the garter section of the third color and it is ready for the lace section of that color next.  Here is what it looks like now:

This week coming up I am not sure what my crafting plans are.  My Thanksgiving break is over and it is back to work so that will cut into my crafting time.  I am hoping to get a few things off my WIP list.  I think I will focus on getting a few things off the needles this up coming week.  I will finish my Coffee Cantata socks if I don't finish them today and then I will move onto my Mystery Socks.  Those are also getting closer to completion.  The main reason I want to get a few finishes this week is because I have been drawn into three new projects which each begin on December 1st.  Two are mystery Advent scarves - both will release clues over the Advent season - one daily and the other every second day - and the third project is another mystery sock pattern.  That one will release clues four times over the month of December.  All three of these projects should be completed by the end of December.   

WIP-it Down Week Thanksgiving 2017 - Day 10

Today is NaBloPoMo Day 25 and Day 10 of my self imposed WIP-it Down Week.

I had a change of plans yesterday.  I had thought to sew together my BAMKAL squares, but I decided to hold off on and I will wait until the last squares are made.  I did however make the one extra I needed.  

I also finished the BAMCAL square that I had in progress from the day before.  I really like this square - the design and the color!  Bonus is that it is a fairly quick and easy square!

And we went out and did some Black Friday shopping.  By the time we ventured out in the late afternoon the crowds were mostly cleared out.  I had the most luck at Goodwill of all places!  Someone must have cleared out some of their paper crafting supplies because I found a few nice things that came home with me!  We went to Hobby Lobby but nothing I wanted was on sale so I left empty handed!  That might be a first for me!  But I was eyeing up a paper pack that I thought was on sale but was not.  I have a 40% off coupon so I may go back this afternoon and buy it.  I also want to go buy a pack of Tombow markers at Michaels but I am still mulling that over.  I'm not sure if I would rather stay home and relax or go out shopping...

The other Black Friday sale I hit up was Amazon and I ordered myself a new FitBit.  I had the old Charge and the strap gave out (after I had it replaced once before over a year before).  So I bought myself the newer Charge 2.  It was on sale for $99 (instead of $149).  I miss my old one so thought I should upgrade and get the newer model.  It should be here on Tuesday!

On the schedule for today is my Find Your Fade Shawl.  I have not worked on this for a while and it is due for some love!  I need to figure out where I left off and make sure my stitch count is on - when I last worked on it I thought I had my count off a bit - I'll get that figured out today and get back to working on this!  Here is where I am at the beginning of the day:

WIP-it Down Week Thanksgiving 2017 - Day 9

Today is NaBloPoMo Day 24 and Day 9 of my self imposed WIP-it Down Week.  I had a pretty productive day yesterday considering it was Thanksgiving and the hubby was home (although he slept a good part of the day since he works a midnight shift).

I finished the border on my first BAMCAL afghan!  It still needs a run through the washer and dryer to "block" it.  I am relatively happy with this afghan.  I don't love a few of the squares, but overall it is nice and will be loved by someone once I donate it.  Here is a close up of the simple border:

I also stitched together three four square blocks as well.  Now these are ready to sew in with the other twelve inch squares once I complete the rest of the November and December squares.  And I also got some work done on the remaining November squares!  I finished the four six inch squares (and sewed them together!).  Here is a picture of the four blocks (the top right one is the one I completed yesterday and the other three are the ones I joined together).

And I decided on an alternate for the Main November square that I was not happy with.  This one is a square I made for the 2011 BAMCAL and I like the look (and ease of making) it so decided that was the one I wanted to substitute in.  I got a start on it last night but was getting too sleepy to finish it.  This is as far as I got:

On the schedule for today is to work on sewing together my BAMKAL squares.  I don't think this will take all day and if I finish early I think I will go back to either my MOCKs or my Coffee Cantata socks.  Both are closer to completion and I would like to get them both done.  Since the Coffee Cantata socks are closer I suspect I will focus on those!  First off though I want to finish my substitute BAMCAL square!  It should not take too long (I hope), then I will move on to the BAMKAL square blocking (for those last few) and joining (of those squares already blocked).

And we may have to check out some Black Friday sales - after hubby is home from work and after he gets some sleep.  I suspect we will head out shopping later in the afternoon.