NaBloPoMo 2018 Day 27

Hello everyone! Another day of working and trying to squeeze a bit of crafting in!

So far today I have managed to finish the daily clue for the Advent Scarf and I will be spending some time later today working on my Julenatt Mittens.  I am hoping to finish the first two clues on at least one mitten before Clue #3 comes out tomorrow morning...  I am not sure if I will make it or not.  We are hoping to go watch the movie Ralph Breaks the Internet this evening so that will use up some of my knitting time.

Here is what my scarf looks like now at the end of day 4:

I also thought I should give you an update on my NoKnitMo challenge - my goal is to knit 50000 stitches in the month of November.  So far I have knit 46148 stitches.  It looks promising that I will hit my goal!!

Until tomorrow!

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:

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!

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 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 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 32

Another week and I am back with some finished objects and some new cast ons.  I had a productive week!!

I finally blocked my Advent Scarf!!  It is huge!  I measured it when it was blocking and it is almost ten feet long...  Oye.  I did not pull lengthwise while blocking either...  Oh well!  Granted I did use a heavier weight than called for... lesson learned :)

I also finished and blocked my Advent Cowl!  I did not do any pinning of the cowl - it only needed the blocking to settled and even out the color work.  This may take some time to dry!!  It is four layers of color work...  I love it!!  The pictures show the two sides of the cowl - it was knit all the way and then folded in half around the circumference (bound off using a three needle bind off) thus hiding all the floats. 

I also finished up the last three squares for my BAMCAL afghan.  I still had the December squares to crochet and now they are all done.  I still need to stitch the last squares together so that the afghan is ready to use or give away.  I already stitched about half the squares together and made a small afghan already and now I am ready to make the second afghan with the rest of the squares.  Hopefully I get that done in February!  The first three pictures are the December squares and the fourth picture is one of all the squares that need to be stitched together to make a small afghan.

And I cast on two new projects!  First up is my Solid Socks Mystery KAL.  The first clue was released on Thursday and I got that knit up yesterday.  The remaining clues will come out on Thursdays for the rest of the month.  So far I am loving it - lace and beads!  I can't wait to see the next clue!

And secondly I cast on my Rowe Cardigan.  I swatched for it yesterday!  I know I swatched!!!  I am glad I did because my little swatch was too big.  I need to go down a needle size since I am a loose knitter!  I did that up and cast on the back.  So far I have done only a few rows of ribbing, but it is likely my focus knit until the next clue comes out for the mystery socks on Thursday.

Happy crafting everyone!!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 31

Week 31!  WOW I am still amazed I have been keeping up with this for so long!  I have not really followed my initial list, but I have been posting about my progress on other projects :)

I finished my SKA MOCKs a couple days ago and I love them!  I really didn't use the best yarn for socks, but it was a good yarn for color work.  The contrast is maybe a bit to subtle as well, but I am fine with that as well!  I really do enjoy a mystery knit!

Since I finished up my mystery socks a couple days ago I have had a bit of time to continue working on my Advent Cowl.  I am slowly getting closer to completion on this one too.  Last week I had finished the middle of the three darker pink bands.  In the past week I added the second gray, the third dark pink, and the pale pink.  I did about 18 rounds (each round is over 200 stitches) and I have 15 rounds left to do!!  I am really hoping to have it as a finish for next Sunday!

I have been seeing several people lately talking about their "Make Nine" projects.  Basically this is a personal challenge for people to make nine articles of clothing for themselves over 2018.  I think I am going to join this bandwagon and see what I can manage.  I suspect I will not make it to nine, but I will try.  My make nine will include both knitting and sewing.  I have not sewn a garment in a long time and it is about time to dust off my trusty old sewing machine and show it some love again. 

First up I plan to knit the Rowe Cardigan by Michele Wang.  It is a gorgeous worsted weight heavily cabled cardigan.  I am excited to cast it on!!  There is a KAL for knitting Wang garments over here that I am going to join.  I need to order some yarn for it and I plan to get that done later today.  I plan to order some undyed yarn and will decide if I want to dye the skeins before I knit it, or dye the cardigan once it is done - or leave it as an undyed yarn.  I am actually leaning towards leaving it undyed. 

Second up I plan to sew myself the Grandpa Cardi.  I have an old jersey sweater that I am wearing to death and I have not been able to find a replacement in the shops so I finally decided I may as well sew my own!  I need to go out and look at some fabric soon (maybe on Thursday?) and get started with that one!  I bought the pattern last night and need to figure out just how much fabric I need. I am excited to get back to sewing again!!

Tune in next week to see where I am!!  I hope you all have an amazing week! 

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 30

Back again!  I have had a fairly productive week!

I completed Clue #3 (added the heel flaps, heel turns, and gusset decreases) on my SKA MOCKs and am looking forward to seeing the final clue tomorrow!  Hopefully that last clue knits up quickly!

I spend some quality time with my Advent Cowl.  I am now working on the last round of Day 17 (of 24 days).  This cowl has long rounds (over 200 stitches!) and almost all color work so it is slow going...  I hope to have it done by the end of January, but we shall see!  I just checked and I have 35 rounds left to go and 12 of those rounds are solid colors with no color work!  Lots of color work to go!!

Have an amazing week everyone!!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 29

Hello again for another weekly update!  This week has been less productive for me as University has started up again after our winter break and I have been busy with that.

I did manage to get a goodly amount done on my SKA MOCK (Sock Knitters Anonymous Mystery Sock).  The second clue was released on Monday and I have managed to complete one leg and about half of the second leg.  I hope to get the second leg complete today so that I am ready for the third clue on Monday.  We are told to cut the contrast color at the end of Clue #2 so the heel should be quicker going with only one color!

I still have not blocked my Advent Scarf...  I really hope to get that done this week coming up!  And I want to start sewing together my BAMKAL squares and I want to finish my BAMCAL squares so I can assemble that blanket as well!  I especially want to get these three things done in January so I can clear off most of my WIP list I organized at the beginning of the month!  We shall see how I progress!

Until next time - happy crafting!

Seventh Year of Projects - Week 28

Hello everyone!!  I hope you have all had a great week and have stayed warm (if you are in the areas that have been seeing extra cold temperatures recently!)

I have had a fairly productive week.

I finished my Temperature Scarf!  It is super long (over 8 feet long!) and is about 7 inches wide.  It wraps around my neck many times!  Here is what it looks like all done up:

I also knit the two December BAMKAL squares and now have everything ready to assemble.  I hope to get onto that soon!

I only found a tiny bit of time to add a few more rounds on my Advent Cowl and I plan to spend some more time on that this upcoming week.  There is not enough progress to show a picture...

And I broke down and cast on something new.  I had planned on resisting new cast ons for a bit but that didn't work!  I cast on for the SKA MOCK (Sock Knitters Anonymous Mystery Sock) and have almost finished the first clue (each clue comes out on a Monday).  I have one complete and have only the Latvian braid to do on the second and I will be ready for the next clue 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!