Seventh Year of Projects - Year end review!

Today I want to do a review of my YOP7.  I had an amazing time and created a lot!  I managed to complete most of the things on my WIP list, I did not touch my new plans list, and I certainly beat my 12 projects goal!  

RECAP:
Ongoing works in progress:
1) Find Your Fade - using hand dyed by me yarn - cast on July 1st 2017 - I frogged this as I was not feeling the colors I had dyed for it - the contrast between some was too much.  Instead I am using the yarn for other projects.  I do want to make the Fade Shawl someday as I do like the look of it - I might just have to dye some other yarn for it.
2) John's Vanilla Socks (no pattern) - cast on June 26th 2017 - these were finished in time to give away as a Christmas gift.  Now the hubby is saving them for a special occasion and has not worn them...
3) Temperature Scarf - began January 1st and will finish around December 31 - DONE
4) Cocoa Coffee - cast on May 29th 2016! - DONE!
5) Lambs and Chickens and Bunnies, Oh My! - cast on April 23rd 2017 (one sock complete) - these I have not touched and it remains as a single sock.  I am starting to think I may keep it as a single sock and turn it into an art piece.  Maybe I will make a few single fancy colorwork socks and create a cluster of socks for decoration!
6) Sock Scrap-ghan - cast on July 24th 2014 (time to keep moving with this one!!  I currently have 95 squares complete!) - this also was not touched all year.  I can't believe I did nothing with this in a year!!  I think I need to add it into a monthly rotation so that I finish it some time!
7) BAMCAL squares - Monthly crochet squares that will turn into one or two afghans by the end of 2017. Complete to the end of September. - DONE
8) BAMKAL squares - Monthly knit squares that will turn into one or two afghans by the end of 2017. Complete to the end of September. - DONE

So overall I am happy with my progress through my WIPs in the past year. I succeeded in finishing off several projects and I am ending this YOP cycle with fewer WIPs than what I had a year ago!  I currently have only five WIPs (compared to the 8 I had this time last year)New plans for using stash include:
1) Summer Shawlette - use Berroco Comfort Solids and Heathers
2) Elva Shawl - use Manos del Uruguay  (need to buy the pattern)
3) Casu Cowl - use Premier Yarns Deborah Norville Alpaca Dance
4) Abundance Table Runner - use Bernat Soy 
5) 198 Yards of Heaven - use Cascade yarn

My new plans saw zero success.  I did not accomplish anything on my wish list even though I did make a lot of new projects - just none from my original list.  For next year I think I will keep my list even shorter and see if this is the year I actually create something from this part of my plan!

Finished Objects: I aimed for 12 finished objects and I knocked that out of the park!!  I am happy with what I accomplished even though only 5 where on my original list!!  
1) Tour-de-Sock Stage 1 - finished July 25th
2) Tour-de-Sock Stage 2 - finished August 3rd
3) Tour-de-Sock Stage 3 - finished August 12th
4) Mini Sweater #1 - finished August 12th
5) Tour-de-Sock Stage 4 - finished August 25th
6) Tour-de-Sock Stage 5 - finished September 3rd
7) Selbu Mittens - finished October 1st
8) Vanilla Socks for John - finished October 31st
9) Fall's Fragility - finished November 5th
10) Coffee Cantata - finished November 28th
11) Fire Swamp - finished November 30th
12) Chrismukkah - finished December 27th
13) Temperature Scarf 2017 - finished January 2nd
14) Heahmund - finished January 25th
15) Advent Scarf 2017 - finished February 2 
16) 2017 BAMCAL - finished all the squares and assembled two afghans February 2018
17) 2017 BAMKAL - finished all the squares and assembled the afghan February 2018
18) The Lady of Rivendell - finished February 26th
19) Sock Madness 12 Qualifying Round - finished March 14th
20) SM12 Round 1 - finished March 25th
21) SM12 Round 2 - finished April 15th
22) SM12 Round 3 - finished April 27th
23) Impressionist MKAL - finished May 1st
24) SM12 Round 4 - finished May 25th
25) Vanilla Socks - finished May 28th
26) Pet Snuggles - finished 8 crochet pet snuggles which will be donated to my local pet shelter 

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 51 & 52

I missed posting last week since I was away traveling and had really spotty internet access at all the hotels we were at (or so it seemed).  While away I did almost zero crafting.  I managed to add less than one inch to my Miriam socks!  We got home on Friday late afternoon and on Saturday I spent some nice quality time with my yarn and needles and managed to get some serious progress made! I am ready for the heel turn on one sock and about a third of the way along the heel on the second.  The markers show where I was last time I posted.  I hope to get these finished in the upcoming week!  Here is where I am now:

I can't believe the Seventh Year of Projects is all done!!  I am so amazed that I kept up and posted nearly every week for the past year!!  I think I missed only two (or maybe three) weeks!  I am excited to begin the Eighth Year of Projects!!  I need to get going on creating a list for next year (and likely won't follow it anyway if my past participation is any indication!).

I want to recap what my plans had been for YOP7 and see what I actually accomplished.  I will post an update on that during the week.

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 50

So close to the end of the year!!  I am amazed!

I am away at a conference this week and likely won't get much knitting done.  This past week I have only had a bit of time to do some knitting but have made some progress on my socks.  Here is what they look like now:

Time to go shower and head out to the transit station so I can get tot he conference!  Until next week!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 49

We are getting so close to the end of the Seventh Year of Projects!!  I am thrilled at how well I have kept up this year!  And I am getting excited for next year!

This past week I finished my Vanilla Socks.

I spent some time on my new design but I am sorry to say you will have to wait some time to see what I am working on.  I promise to show it off once I can!

I worked up a few pet snuggles - 5 to be exact.  The top three were done in May and the bottom two were done in June.  These crochet up pretty quickly and are a nice change of pace (and work my hands differently) from knitting!  I have a couple ends to weave in yet but that won't take much time at all.

And I broke down and cast on something new...  I signed up for Tour-de-Sock again this year and they released the Warm Up pattern on Friday.  I like it and decided to give it a go!  So far I have one and a half cuffs done.  Once the cuffs are done the color work begins!  I am using a darker burgundy to go along with this pink speckled!

I suspect this upcoming week will have me focusing on my Tour socks and my secret design.  Come back next week and see my progress

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 48

Back for another week.  I can hardly believe this year of projects is nearly over!  And I can also hardly believe that I have kept up for almost the entire year! 

I have spent my week on socks!  I finished my Sock Madness Round 4 socks.  I was not fast enough to qualify for the next round but I am happy to have these done ♥  Here they are (there are more pictures on my Ravely project page - link above):

And I spent some time on my Vanilla Socks.  These are almost ready for the toes and I imagine I will have them ready as a finish next Sunday.  My progress this week is from the marker.  Here they are:

And finally I have found my designing mojo again!!  I am working on a new sock design but I cannot share pictures because I want to submit it somewhere and secrecy is important.  If my submission is unsuccessful I will be able to show it off in the early autumn.  So far I have knit the cuff and am working on creating the charts before I dive into the leg.  Sorry no pictures...

Well I best run!  Time to go shower and get ready for church and then we are heading out for lunch and to do some shopping.  This evening we plan to finally get some more of our artwork hung in the apartment - no hurry - we have been here for nearly a year!!  Until next week!!

Seventh Year of Projects - Weeks 46 & 47

I'm back a week plus a day late!!  I was traveling and was not able to get last weeks post done.  I was using my Mom's computer and I did not want to log out of her gmail account to use mine in case I could not get her machine back to it's "normal" state.  I had a wonderful time away and got in a lot of visiting with family and friends.  I got home late last night and did not want to tackle this then...  I did not get too much accomplished over the past two weeks but I did make some progress on the two sock WIPS I took with me.

My Vanilla Socks saw some love (I have these going two at a time now and the markers show where I left off last time I posted pictures):

And I got some work done on my Sock Madness Round 4 socks.  I have been eliminated from the competition but I still want to finish these socks as they are so cool looking!  One sock is complete (showing the front view) and the second is ready to pick up the gusset stitches and move down the foot.

I suspect I will spend some time this week trying to finish up both of these pair of socks.  I am itching to cast on something new, but I really need to finish these up first!  I also need to start thinking about my list for next year, although I really did not stick to my list this past year...  Enough of this disorganized, random post!  I'll be back to "normal" for next week!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 45

Back again!! 

This past week has seen some progress!!  I finished my Impressionists MKAL Shawl but have not got around to blocking it yet.  This was a really fun knit and I actually enjoyed all the garter stitch :)  You can't see it here but this has a picot bind off and I added beads to the picots!  I'll get some better pictures of that once it is blocked (which won't happen until later this month).  All the ends are tucked in and will be clipped after blocking.  Here is what it looks like before blocking:

Then I spent a bit of time working on some vanilla socks I started quite a while back.  I need to get the second gusset complete and then I plan to get them onto one needle so that I can do the feet two at a time.  I am going to be traveling this week and will want something easy to work on.  Here is where I am at now:

And the newest round of Sock Madness began on Thursday.  It is stranded color work and I am slowly making some progress.  Only ten people on each team advance to the next round and four on my team are already done.  I am not sure I will make it this round.  I do want to finish the socks because they are so pretty!  It has a different design down the front and back of the leg.  Here is a picture of where I am now (front and back views - it will be a dragon when it is done!):

Front

Back (he has a red bead for his eye!)

And just for fun here is a picture of me from yesterday.  We had our graduation ceremony at my university.  I love wearing my regalia and watching my students walk across the stage to get their diploma ♥

I might not have as much to show over the next couple weeks as I will be home visiting family in Manitoba.  I only plan to take my two pair of socks to work on - I suspect that will be enough to keep my hands busy!  I plan to post my blog from my Mom's computer while I am away so if I am not around for the next two Sundays you know why!!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 44

I can't believe how close to the end of the YOP year we are getting!!  And I can't believe I have consistently posted for so many weeks!!

This has been a productive week.  I started and finished my Sock Madness Round 3 socks!  The pattern was released on Sunday morning and I cast on in the early afternoon.  I knit like a fiend and managed to finish by 1am on Friday morning!  This might be a record for me to knit a pair of socks!  I managed to finish fast enough to make the cut and to advance to Round 4!!  I was the last one to cross the line and move ahead!  I took spot #20 of  20 places!  Next round will have only 10 advance - I am not sure I am fast enough to manage that, but we shall see!  The pattern was fun and really did knit up fast!  Here is what they look like:

Once my hands were rested a bit (not really, but...) I got back to my Impressionists MKAL shawl.  I finished the third clue and am now working on the fourth (and final) clue.  I have eight rows left to do (ranging from 514 stitches to 534 stitches per row...) plus the cast off.  Right side rows increase by 4 stitches and wrong side rows increase by 2 stitches...  The cast off is a picot bind off and I am considering adding beads to the picots!  I have a bit of time to decide on that before I cast off.  I hope to have this one done and blocked for next weekend.  I had hoped to have them as a finish for today, but I didn't make it...  I can't wait to have this off the needles!!  The picture is all scrunchy and bunchy since it is on a relatively short cable (especially for the number of stitches).  My progress since the last update is from the green marker.

And I want to spend some time with my Rowe Cardigan this week coming up!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 43

Back for another week!!  This week I have been monogamous!!  That does not happen too often, but it did this week.  I had fallen behind on my Impressionist MKAL and have been trying to catch up since I am between rounds on Sock Madness.  When I last showed you a picture of my shawl I was complete on Clue #1.  Clue 2 and 3 had been released but I had not worked on them yet.  So this past week I have finished Clue #2 and almost finished Clue #3 (I have four rows left of Clue #3 - but my last row was 468 stitches and each row increases by either 2 or 4 stitches, so the rows take awhile!)  Clue #4 was released yesterday morning and I hope to get this shawl done before the next round of Sock Madness!  It is hard to get a picture of the shawl now as there are so many stitches bunched up on the cable...  Soon I will be posting a picture of it all done and blocked :)

Here is a picture of where I am now.  The first marker shows the beginning of Clue #2 and the second marker shows the beginning of Clue #3.

Here is the yarn I plan to use for the next round of Sock Madness.  It is also yarn I dyed myself.  And as I was getting this all typed up the pattern dropped for the next round of Sock Madness!!  I'll be casting this on momentarily!! 

Until next week!!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 42

Oops!  I am late by a day this week - I think for only the second time this year around!  Still keeping myself on track and posting weekly though and I am so amazed that I have keep going with this so consistently this year!!

My week has been busy!  I have only worked on my Sock Madness socks this week and have touched nothing else!  But I do have a finish to report!  Actually that is why I am late posting this - I wanted to finish my Sock Madness socks before posting and then it turned out I finally finished my socks around 11pm... I now know how to knit brioche and I like it!!  I don't think my color choices were the best - not quite contrasty enough...  Oh well!  But they are done and I am still in the running!!  Round 3 will begin in about a week from now (Round 2 finishes on Friday at 7pm). 

This week coming up I plan to work on my Rowe Cardigan and my Impressionists Shawl MKAL.

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 41

Another week of crafting has come and gone!  It felt like I had a very busy week with work related stuff, but I seemed to get some crafting done as well!  YAY!!

I did a few rows on my Rowe Cardigan and am now ready to begin the decreasing for the shoulders.  I hope to find some time this week to get that done.  My progress since my last update is from the second marker (the first one marks a measurement point for the armhole)

I finished up the first clue on the Impressionist MKAL and am much enjoying this knit!  The second clue has come out (Saturday morning) but I have not had a chance to get going on that yet.  My progress since last Sunday is from the marker (which is barely visible between the first two blue stripes...)

And the Second Round of Sock Madness has started so all my spare time has been focused on that.  The pattern came out Friday night but I was too sleepy to cast on.  I had an all day function at work yesterday and have another this afternoon so my weekend knitting has suffered!  Rest assured I will be knitting more this evening once I am back home again!  I on on the third block section on the first sock (we need to do nine) and have the cuff of the second sock complete.  I decided to reverse the colors for each sock.  I am happy that I am being "forced" to learn how to knit brioche!  SO far I am loving it (now that I have the hang of it!)  My colors might not be the most contrasty and maybe not the best choice for this design...  Oh well!

Until next week!!  I hope to be done with my Sock Madness socks and hope to have some other progress to show you!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 40

Back for another week in my Seventh Year of Projects!!

This has been a fairly productive week.  After I finished my Sock Madness Round 1 socks I wanted to do something completely different for a bit so I got to work with my acrylic yarn stash and began crocheting some pet snuggles.  I managed to work up three of them and have now begun a little pile of mini blankets to donate to some pet shelter (I'll decide which one later once I have a goodly pile done up).  I'll get back to making some more later this month.  I am aiming to use up all my acrylic yarns to make up charity projects.

I also picked up a pair of vanilla socks that I had begun a while back (over Christmas I think).  I made some good progress on these as well.  I have one done to the end of the gusset decreases and the other is beginning the gusset decreases.  I might get more done on these this week coming up - time will tell.

And I caved and cast on a new project.  I have joined in on the Impressionists MKAL and the first clue was released yesterday.  I managed to get a nice amount done since I opened the pattern.  I hope to work on it some more later today.

And in deciding to do this shawl, I have decided to frog my Find Your Fade shawl.  I have come to realize that I am not completely happy with the combination of colors I dyed for the project.  I love the colors each on their own, but was not really loving the fade that it was going to create.  I decided to use three of the skeins I had set for my Fade to make my Impressionists Shawl.  And I must say I am happy for the decision.  I will make a Fade one day - once I dye up (or find) some yarn that speaks to my heart more strongly.

Until next week!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 39

And another week has come and gone! 

I spent the majority of my spare time this past week working on only my Sock Madness Round 1 socks and I managed to get them all finished up late this afternoon - which explains why I delayed posting this blog until now...

What I learned knitting this pattern - I am not a big fan of duplicate stitching...  The end result looks nice, but it was so slow to do and I also have a boat load of tails to tuck in (I need to get onto to those soon or I will never finish them...)

Here is the finished project:

Now I need to wait for about a week until the next pattern comes out.  I think I may work on some crochet pet snuggles to donate to the Humane Society.  I want to use up my old acrylic stash and this is a quick and easy way to do so.  I'll post some pictures of what I do with them (assuming I do work on them) next week.  And I plan to get some more work done on my Rowe Cardigan.

Until next week!!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 38

Back for another week and a bit late in posting today!

I finished my qualifying round socks for Sock Madness and am on a team to compete through the rest of the competition!  Here are my finished qualifying round socks (excuse the stitch markers still there - they were needed to indicate each ten rounds completed so the moderators could easily see that we all knit enough rounds)

I spent some time on my Rowe Cardigan and am getting closer to completing the back!!  The bottom stitch marker is indicating where to measure for distance to starting the shoulder decreases while the second marker shows my progress since my last post.

And Sock Madness Round 1 began earlier today.  So far I have my cuffs knit and am ready to start adding some beads.  You should be able to see significant progress by next week - hopefully a finish!!

Back to my knitting - hope everyone has an amazing week!!  Craft on!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 37

Another week!  I have spent all my spare knitting time this week working on my Sock Madness Qualifying Round socks.  I have made some great progress and am finished the gusset decreasing on both socks now.  All that is left is to finish the feet and toes!  The deadline to finish for qualifying to advance in the madness is at noon on Thursday.  I should be able to finish them in time!  I am actually hoping to have them done by the end of the day on Tuesday, but we shall see!  Here is what they look like now:

Once I have these done and while waiting for the teams to be announced (and the next round to begin) I plan to continue to work on my Rowe Cardigan.  It will be nice to work with larger needles and heavier yarn again!

Until next week when I hope to have a finish to show you!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 36

Another week!!  I can hardly believe that February is gone and that I am still consistently posting every week for this project!! 36 weeks!!!

This past week has been another productive one for me.  First up - I finished my February Mystery Socks and I love them!!  I did play a game of yarn chicken with this pair.  I am not sure why I came so close - usually these skeins have enough yarn in them for most typical socks.  I don't think this one was particularly yarn hungry!  Either way - I won the game of yarn chicken with only a few yards to spare!  Here is a picture of the finished socks and the leftover yarn:

I also spent some time working on my BAMCAL afghan from 2017.  I had all the pieces crocheted and only had to sew them together and add a border.  I am happy to say that this little blanket is now a finished object as well!  This will go into my donation pile (note to self: start thinking about where to donate these blankies - the pile is growing!)  Here it is:

I also managed to finish my BAMKAL afghan.  I finally stitched the squares together and added a little border.  This poor thing is so wonky!!  The squares are not all the same size and I basically "made it work"!!  This might get donated to a pet shelter unless it looks better after it has had a run through the washing machine.  Right now I am not sure I would like to donate it to a person...  It is not the nicest quality job I have done...

Sock Madness 12 began on Thursday March 1st and I am now happily knitting through the qualifying round pattern.  We have a full two weeks to complete the pattern in order to be placed on a team for the remainder of the competition.  The two week window is sufficient time for me to get the socks all knit up.  The color work portion is all done and the remaining portion of the socks will all be in the purple.  There is an option for heels and/or toes in the light color but I do not have enough to manage either option - so the rest will be purple!  Here is where I am at now:

There is no progress to report on my Rowe Cardigan...  I spent a bit of time instead finishing the BAMCAL afghan and working on the BAMKAL afghan.  Once my qualifying socks are complete I will focus on Rowe!

When I list everything down here it looks like I made some amazing progress this past week!!

We are heading into Spring Break now, but I unofficially began Spring Break on Wednesday after my last class was done!  Although I did finish up a few lingering tasks so that I would be able to enjoy my break!!  We are going away to a water slide park from Monday through Friday - hubbies choice - but it gives me some time to sit poolside and knit or read to my heart's content!