2017 in Review

I did less knitting, spinning, and crocheting in 2017 than I did in 2016.  My energy level has dropped some and I've been doing other things.  I guess that's why.

My favorite project for the year was the Yarnia blanket.  It came out a lot better than I expected it to.

My favorite new-to-me yarns came from Must Stash.

Happy fibery new year to all.

Stash Enhancement Saturday

The yarn for my Sock Arms sweater arrived yesterday.

The stripes arm color is Good Guys and is on the left.
The tonal body ranges from brown to pale pink and is called Star Lord.
The yarns came from Must Stash.

F O Friday

My Yarnia blanket is done.  It really is a blanket because it fits my bed.

WIP Wednesday

I’m still slogging away at blanket assembly.  It may require reknitting one or two squares.  One is bigger than all the others.  One is shorter than all the others.  It would be nice if the two could be used together to make two normal squares, but that isn’t going to work.

The gnome/Santa pillow is still in time out.

Frankensocks are up to date.

One project that has been rattling around in my head for a couple of years took a step forward this week.  It started with this book:

It’s all about finding inspiration for colorwork patterns.  Inspiration can be anything, from obvious things like nature to things like technology or architecture.  I’ve been wanting to try this out, but did not know what I could do with patterns once they were done.  A sweater sounded promising, but l try to avoid horizontal stripes.  Eventually I thought that a solid sweater with coordinating patterns on the sleeves would be good.  I didn’t want to concoct my own pattern and had not run across one that was suitable.

I got an email from Must Stash about sweater kits it is doing.  They are for a pattern I saw on Ravelry called Sock Arms.  Plain body with self-striping sock yarn for the arms, what does that sound like?
The size range goes beyond what l need, so Santa is bringing me one of the kits.  Well, maybe not quite for Christmas.  It will be here in plenty of time for Ravellenics.  At the rate this is going, my colorwork arms should be ready to do by the next Ravellenics.  The winter ones.

I’m still knitting

...posting not so much.

Apple blossom hat is drying.  Cat tried to barf on it, but I was mostly able to get it out of harm’s way in time.  

Meadow bed socks that were finished a couple of weeks ago.

The squares for the Yarnia blanket are done.  Now I have to arrange 48 squares and sew them together.  Fun.

I’m doing the Frankensock advent socks again this year.  Again, I’ll be making two pairs of short socks instead of one pair of long ones.  I’m not terribly crazy about the toes, but whatever.   Clues 1 and 2:

The fringed shawl pattern turned out to be a scarf. I don’t know if I want to finish it.

WIP Wednesday

Flying Fringe shawl.  It’s done with two strands of fingering weight held together.  It’s a stash buster project.  I would’ve loved to have done it as written with Hedgehog Fibres yarns, but it is still fun this way.  It will eventually have a whole bunch of fringe.

Nothing more done on the Santa/gnome pillow.

This week’s yarn fun

I made two squares for my Yarnia blanket.  Two more to go, then much assembly time.

I made a hat.  The cat briefly claimed it as a bed, so it didn’t get washed when it was meant to be.  Picture next time if I get off my lazy behind and block it.

I started a pillow.  I got bored after one pattern repeat and set it to one side.

I got a slipper kit at the same time I got the pillow yarn.  The pattern was a nightmare:  magic loop and steeks.  I absolutely loathe magic loop.  There is nothing magical in fiddling endlessly with stitches on a cable.  I have sworn off anything that is not fun whenever possible.  Therefore, this one is deleted.  The lesson is to check pattern details next time.  The cost of the kit was the same as if I’d just bought the yarn, so it was not so bad.

I started a different slipper pattern using some of the kit yarn.  It has embroidery, so some stash yarn will be used up.

Speaking of stash, mine was enhanced today.  I’ve been trying to limit my yarn purchases unless there’s a good reason.  This sock blank benefits the California wine country that was damaged by wildfires last month.  The vendor is Little Skein in the Big Wool.

Stash Enhancement Saturday

It's a shawl kit with some extras:

The extras are a pretty project bag that goes really well with the yarn I picked and a journal.  The book with the two smiling women is called a Knocker Jotter.  It features a group of cancer survivors called the Scarlettes.  I think the journal was made for a cancer support group.  These brave women posed for photographs, many including their mastectomy scars.  The thing that left me with tears in my eyes was that the scars were not the main thing I noticed in each picture.  Their smiles were amazing.  It sounds kind of corny, but it is true.

There are three shawl patterns.  I'll pick one eventually and do this for Ravellenics which has nothing whatsoever to do with another event that happens every four years.

F O Friday

I went through a bucket of UFO (that’s UnFinished Objects) this week.  I asked myself if each would be more fun to finish or more fun to do something else.  Most of the art dolls got tossed.  There was one that did get finished.  The doll body was in a goodie bag I got at a gathering called Artfest over 10 years ago.  It was kind of a do it yourself souvenir.  You dug through things you brought with you and from this whole crazy room of things people donated. This is the result which I call Tulip.

She has bloomers encrusted with sequins.  Her funky granny boots were crocheted with some hand spun someone gave me.  She was fun and will remind me of my last visit to Seattle.

I gave up on the pillow I was working on, mostly because it should be done all with one yarn weight. A little sport weight here, some DK there, and mystery hand spun just would not work.  So I found another pattern and ordered yarn for it.  So much for stash busting.

I did use up leftovers from an afghan to make these boots.

I don’t know what’s next.  There are several basket kits, but they require soaking materials first.  I have a new shawl kit, but want to save it for Ravellenics.  Back to my Ravelry Favorites list for inspiration.

Finished Object Friday

Still testing pictures.  Fingers crossed.

The Yarnia blanket should be done soon.  I think there are only two more pattern releases to go.  This is the one I finished most recently.

The person who designed the Hygge shawls did some mug cozies to use up a little bit of the leftover yarn.  I did one of each.  The second one is technically not complete because it doesn't have its button.  The mug I plan to use it on should be in my mailbox any time now.

WIP Wednesday 11-1-17

Let's see if I can get this posted correctly.  I get much better pictures with my tablet.  After several downloads and much bad language, I got the cat picture here.

I'm trying to switch to some of the many non-knitting UFOs that are literally collecting dust around here.  Not much luck so far.  I started a pillow using leftover DK yarns.

The problem with using leftovers is that they are all slightly different weights.  The squirrel came out pretty well but it is a bit bigger than the square next to it.  Maybe it'll work out somewhat in the blocking.

Testing with cat 2

Finished Objects

Shark  Bite Socks:

Shark Bite II socks:

I went on a bit of a binge when I got my copy of Silk Road Socks.  They all have nice lace patterns which don't always show up because I just had to use yarn that doesn't show them off.  The slipper pattern was modified to fit my puffy feet.

Slouchy Beanie was a pattern I got for donating to The Knit Show.  I haven't seen the episodes yet, but they should show up great on the new computer.

Dancing Skeleton Socks were done for the season and because they had a fun combination of colorwork and lace:

I did a mystery shawl knitalong, designed to use up little bits of leftovers.  It obviously isn't blocked, but it was fun to do.  Hope it is visible on that quilt:

Finally, I got my Harley sweater done.  It wants blocking too:

The neckband had a braid all the way around it.  The sleeves have the same braid.  The places where the sleeves join the body have cables and the cables continue down the sides.  The cuffs and bottom edge have the same cables too.  Perhaps I'll give another try at a picture when it is blocked.

Nap time.

Testing

This is the final sock from Tour de Sock.  This is as far as I got before frogging it.  A lot of people had trouble with it.  My overall finish was 56th out of 609, so I am surely not the only one who didn't do it.

This is also a test to see if I've got my camera software set up correctly to post this.  If it works, I'll be posting the whole bag full of things I made when I couldn't get online.

Still knitting

...but obviously not posting much.  The good news is that a pretty shiny new laptop is on the way.  A couple of weeks and I will be back to semi-normal here.

Skacel, the people who brought us Addi Turbo needles, has something new that I can't wait to try.  They are called addi FlexiFlips.  Imagine a cross between a dpn and a circular needle.  You put half of your stitches on one needle, half on a second, and you knit with the third.  I can't get a link to the exact page, but you can find them at  www.skacelknitting.com.

I got a new ball winder recently.  If they make yarn cakes, why don't the call them cake winders?  Anyway, I am happy with it.  I was using a used Royal which was a guaranteed to tangle and was a total nightmare.  I can see why the person sold it.  The new one is by Stanwood Needlecraft and I got it from Amazon.  It is much sturdier and will handle bigger skeins and thicker yarns.

I'm back...

...but so far, my computer is not.  It isn't sure there's a hard drive.  Sigh.  In the meantime I am finally learning a thing or three about this iPad.  If the post is squirrelly it is because l haven't learned enough yet.

Tour de Sock is over.  I don't know my numerical finish yet.  I finished 5 of the six socks.  The last one was a total nightmare.  The fastest person took over two days to complete them.  If that sounds fast, the same person could usually do a pair in 12 hours or so.  Only 36 people finished by the end.  It was colorwork with a very particular way of handling the floats.  You couldn't work more than 3 stitches before having to change colors, making a stitch, or knitting two together using a specific color.  Basically you had to keep track of colors on both the inside and outside of the sock.  I admire everyone who finished.

Yarnia Blanket is up to date.  I'm reasonably sure it can be finished from stash.

Stash has been enhanced a little bit.  I got two color ways from Witch Candy.  They are Circus Act and Liberty and Yarn for All.  No pictures yet because I haven't worked out how to do it from here yet.

I started some socks after giving up on the Tour.  Shark Bite is done.  I tried two slightly different ways of doing the colorwork.  One came out better than the other so I know what not to do next time.
Shark Bite II is almost done.

I'm a fan of Hunter Hammersen so I got a copy of the new version of Silk Road Socks when it came out.  The designs are inspired by Oriental rugs.  I'm most of the way through a pair using yarn called Stars Hollow.

Coming soon:  a mystery shawl knitalong using a whole bunch of little leftovers.  Also,maybe a few pictures if I work out how.

ETA:  no luck with the pictures.  However, I was able to add them to my Ravelry stash with no problem at ALL.    Rav even knew I was uploading from an iPad.  Casey is my hero.

Tour de Sock 2017 - Sock 5

After having to reknit 2/3 of one sock due to a mis-crossed cable, I was in no mood to fight with the camera.  The pictures I took for judging show up really dark here and are even harder to see.  Perhaps in the morning I'll do a replacement.  Fingers crossed that I don't have to redo the judging pictures also.

ETA:  judging pictures went through.  76th on this pair, 50th overall through previous sock.

Finished Object Friday

It's Frida Kathlo.  She's propped up by the thirty or so squares for my Yarnia blanket.

Tour de Sock 2017-Sock 4

Mosaic Marbles:

ETA:  second on my team, 60th on sock 4, 56 overall through sock 3.

Stash Enhancement Saturday

I had to have the whole set of the Beatlemania skeins.  This is the White Album.  You can order skeins where the stripes match exactly or two different ones.  I got the different ones, Disc A and Disc B.  The minis were not necessary, but they match the Sgt. Pepper skein and they are each named after a Beatle.  They might be fun to do cuff/heel/toe while using the White Album skeins.

I haven't used any of Must Stash's yarn yet.  It does seem like a good quality.  They communicate well and ship promptly.

WIP Wednesday

I got a couple more inches done on the Harley sweater.  At this rate, it will be cold enough to wear it when it gets done.

Yarnia squares are almost up to date:

I have the next clue for the Don't Panic shawl but haven't started it yet.  This is the first two clues:

It will continue to get more colorful.

The queue of things to follow is magically getting longer.  Several socks patterns and several yarns are calling to me.  I'm trying to not listen.

Tour de Sock 2017 - Sock 3

What you can't see are alternating sections of cables.  The top has a picot border and the heel continues the pattern down from the leg.  This got me a bonus point.  It was a minor nightmare trying to get the required pictures for judging because of the wild and crazy yarn I chose. 

I finished within an hour of the person on my team who finished first.  I also finished ten places higher overall, which got my team a few more points.  Yay!

ETA:  Overall standing, 69.  Standing on sock 3:  67.  Team TARDIS - Doctors 14th.

Is it just me?

I was disappointed in some yarn that I got today.  I ordered this:

 and got this:

It's close, I suppose, but much more brown than I expected.


I also ordered this:

and got this:

Not close at all.  Or is it just me?

WIP Wednesday

I spun all of the Phat Fiber samples into a single ball.  I thought that plying them together would result in mud.  I didn't feel like spinning something to ply with them.  I decided that I would use them with some DK to end up with something worsted-ish weight to use with the Yarnia squares.  Here's the first one:

The whole thing is a knit from stash project so it works okay for me.

I started a shawl knitalong.  I know, the perfect thing to do when I drop everything for Tour de Sock every few days.  It has a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy theme, so I had to do it.  I even have a project bag for it.  Also, it reduces my stash.  I bought a Lace Ball (laceweight version of Zauberball Crazy) by accident last year and really ought to use it up.  It looks pretty tame now, but I'm only 30 rounds in:

We get another clue tomorrow. 

On Friday there's a new Yarnia square AND a new Tour de Sock project.  I won't be around until the TdS is done and that might be some time.  The clue we got reminded me of the two previous  TdS projects I gave up on because of spectacularly difficult construction.

Here's what I would've posted on Saturday:

It is called Land of Submarines and I love it.  It is the second in Must Stash's Beatlemania series.  The paper in the background is a coloring page for creating your own colorway.  I'm going to save it and maybe use it for an embroidery project.

Stash Enhancement Saturday

I've been on a bit of a rampage.  I haven't bought a Phat Fiber box in awhile so I did.  I was a little concerned when it said it was a mixed box.  I wanted fluff to spin and not mini skeins.  I didn't need to worry.  It was almost all fluff:

Great, another fabulous photograph.  Sorry about that.  There were a bunch of stitch marker samples and some other goodies.


I have had the Shark Bite socks in my maybe queue for quite some time.  When I discovered there was a follow up pair, I got both kits.  This is the original, complete with cute shark stitch marker:

It came with a 100 yarn sample skein:

All came from Unplanned Peacock Studio.


This is the second kit, from Jimmy Beans Wool.  I was a little bit bummed out when I saw that the main color, a limited edition colorway, had been sold out.  Oh, well.  It's still Lorna's Laces and that's a good thing.

The Yellow Submarine yarn is supposed to arrive on Monday.  The National Parks yarn are still a week or two away.  I'm still stalking Witch Candy to see if any more of that Statue of Liberty yarn will appear.


This is some funky handspun to be used for my Yarnia blanket:

Tour de Sock 2017 - Sock 2

The pattern is called Kanteletar, which is the name of a collection of Finnish folk poetry.  I think it might actually mean "you mean there are people in other countries who are unable to knit a pair of colorwork socks in 8 hours?".

Now I am going to feed the cat and feed me.

ETA:  I made it through the judging check, yay!  I'm second on my team this time and 76th overall.

Stash Enhancement Saturday

The last shipment from Mad Color's Who-niverse theme:

The colorway is A Different Kind of Living.  The bag from JessaLu is well made but I am so very tired of project bags that are light blue.  I have at least a half-dozen of them.

This is Sgt.'s Score from Must Stash:

The name refers to the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  This is the one where I want to get the whole set. They do a summer concert tour and this summer it is Beatlemania.  The other two colors are inspired by Yellow Submarine (gorgeous light blue/yellow/white stripes with a solid yellow for heels toes and cuffs) and the White Album.  Must Stash does self-striping where you get two identical skeins.  Perfect for those who must have totally matching socks.

I was on Etsy and discovered that the yarn I wanted comes from someone who was on vacation.  I started clicking and looking around and next thing you know, a couple of skeins are on the way from Knitted Wit.  There's a whole bunch of yarns that are inspired by various National Parks.  I was good.  I have no intention of buying the whole series.  I chose two from parks that I've actually visited, Acadia and Yellowstone.