2018 in review

This is the last completed project for the year.

It is prettier in real life, with sparkles in some of the yarn.

I finished:

• 30 pair of socks.  It is crazy when this is the fewest I have done in recent years.  When one is addicted to buying sock yarn, one has to do something with it.
• 7 amigurumi/soft toys.
• 6 outfits for Dolores the sheep.
• 5 hats.
• 3 pillows.
• 2 pair of slippers.
• A shawl, an afghan, a sweater, and a woven curtain.
• 10 squares for swapping plus a bunch of granny squares to turn into one big blanket.

My plans in general for next year are to do more big projects and to work from stash.  We’ll see how long that lasts.

What I Ordered from Santa

There’s not much gift exchanging in my life these days, unfortunately.  At least there are fewer opportunities to buy or make presents that just don’t work for the recipient.  I am good at that.  I allow myself to order things at this time of year and open them on Christmas.

I broke my favorite Pawley Studio mug recently, so I ordered a custom one.  I picked the wrong size, so it will be a holder for my many sock size DPNs.  The tool bag and the pins came from Becka Rahn on Etsy.  The bag has a sonic crochet hook on it,  The pins all have knitting/Firefly sayings on them.

The embroidery kit is from Sublime Stitching.  It is a chambray bandana printed with many designs and lots of embroidery floss.  The book is from Kate Davies Designs and has many cool hats.  I have yarn on the way from the UK to make one of them.  The yarn in front is the 25th of my advent calendar yarns from Happy Little Yarns.  The colorway is Aurora Borealis, which kind of goes with the last package.

It is Must Stash’s Space Camp KAL kit.  There’s a project bag printed in sparkly ink. There’s a astronaut ice cream sandwich,  There are hand and sock bar soaps and skin balm, all in a nice scent called Night Sky.  There’s a mug from Hill Country Pottery.  I bought last year’s mug and use it all the time.  This one is even nicer.  The yarn is self striping sock yarn in two matched skeins.  It has stellina for that night sky sparkle.

Merry holidays to those that celebrate them, and much fibery goodness to all.

Knit one, buy two

After a couple of weeks of intermittent cat barfing, I took Jasmine to the vet.  Long story short, the vet said he doesn’t expect that she’ll be around much longer.  I am very sad.  The only thing I can do is try and come up with anything that she’ll eat.

I am not concentrating well on my knitting so I keep starting projects and not finishing anything.  Whenever I see something I think might be fun, I buy it.  It is going to be lonely without my furry pal.  Maybe a big pile of projects may help a little bit.

I got some patterns from Mochmochi Land and managed to get some sugarplum fairies and nutcrackers made.  The nutcrackers look like they need an orthodontist.  I considered redoing the teeth but figured the whole face might fall apart if the existing teeth were removed.

The crocheted square they are sitting on is one I got in a swap.  The swap squares were all really nice and it will be fun to get them all together some day.

What I have been up to

I gave up on the advent socks.  I am making an advent pillow instead.  Every day I open an advent box and knit two squares for the pillow.  There’s still a lot of yarn left, so I will come up with a plan for it later.  The pillow looks like the colored squares are floating on it.  The effect  is hard to see until the whole thing is assembled.  I can see it a little bit now.

These are the Red Robin socks, the last pair from the Handmade Sock Society.  Pretend you can’t see that bit of laddering in the middle, okay?

I am getting my swap squares and have started working on getting them together.  It is a challenge to get things to match up that we’re made by 10 different people.  It is fun, though.

Possible projects:
-Dolores Transatlantic outfit, waiting for lost needles (long boring story)
-Dolores Sugarplum Fairy outfit, maybe next if lost needles don’t appear
-Roamin’ hat by Kate Davies, book and yarns on the way from the UK
-Thirteenth Doctor Rainbow scarf, waiting for:  pattern to be released, yarn to arrive from the UK,  out of stock color to appear so the rest of the colors can be ordered

TARDIS Wreath

I saw a picture of a TARDIS wreath that someone on Facebook had done.  This is what I did.

The one that was the inspiration for it was much cooler than what I ended up doing, but I still had fun with it.  Everything, including the base for the wreath, was created from things I already had.  I made everything except the Adipose (little white thing next to the bow tie) and the TARDIS ornament.

Sweaters, Socks, and Squares

Rose sweater:  I decided that it was going to be too big and that I probably wouldn’t have worn it much even if it had fit.  I am going to wash it in hot water and make a pillow out of the felted remains.

Moon sweater:  haven’t yet worked out the extended pattern, so it remains in time out.

Sweaters using the Danish yarn:  the yarn is light fingering so it didn’t work for the pattern I was using which called for regular fingering.  I may try the yarn on a sweater pattern I tried last year.  I was burned out after trying the yarn twice on the same pattern, so no sweaters for me for awhile.

Socks:  I finished three pair.  Let’s see if I can find the pictures.

I decided to do my own advent socks this year, instead of the frankensocks I have done in the past years.  I am going to use a Drops pattern with white yarn as the background color.  The pattern will be done using the advent calendar yarns.

That leaves squares.  I crocheted some for a swap that I am in.  The ones I receive will be used for the  center of a blanket.  Since I don’t have anything in the works at the moment, I am making more squares for the blanket.  I went looking through my Ravelry library for patterns to try.  I discovered that I have a book of 200 patterns.  I found it eventually on a bookshelf.  It still had the receipt inside, dated 2010!

Hobbii

Hobbii is a Scandinavian yarn company.  They were Tweeting about a sale a couple of weeks ago.  I had one of my shopping impulses.  These arrived from Denmark today.

The two bags were grab bags.  You got 5 balls each of two different colors, no choice of colors.  I’ve got enough yarn for two sweaters for about $25 each.  The single balls were added to get free shipping.  They are both 100% wool in tonal color ways.  

The little white thingy is a row counter, something that could be ordered for free.

I’m off to Ravelry to do sweater pattern searches.

Advent Calendars

I finished the one I was knitting.  I am not crazy about how it turned out.  It isn’t the pattern’s fault.  If I did it again (which I won’t) I would pick colors I like better.  I was going to use it for the mini skeins advent calendar  I ordered.  The skeins arrived today in cute little numbered boxes.

I will leave them as they are.  They must go into hiding so I am not tempted to open anything before December 1.

My projects have been shuffled around due to two cases of damaged wood.  I started Dolores’s skirt and found a chip in the needles.  I ordered new ones and they are not yet delivered due to a mailbox whose post was damaged.  It fell over.  No mailbox, no mail.  I’ve got a new one, but haven’t found a handy person to install it.  In between online searches and waits for responses, I am working on socks.

Project Status

• Square Swap:  squares are done.  I need to come up with a trinket to send to the people who didn’t want the stitch markers I got for the rest of the group.  There are four variations of the squares to match different color preferences.  This is the pattern as written.
• Advent Calendar:  done except for the decorations.  Pattern should show up on Friday.
• Fox Socks:  about 50 more rows on the second sock.
• Nutmeg Socks:  second sock is in progress.
• Turn Left Socks:  in time out.  Foot was too big, leg too small.
• Moon Sweater:  in time out.  Too small.  I think there’s enough yarn for a bigger sweater.  It will take some work to calculate exactly how to do it.
• Rose Sweater:  in time out.  Need to do some research to figure out the button bands.

I’ve got five projects in my Ravelry queue.  New projects are always more appealing than finishing old ones.  Some of them will no doubt be worked on before all that stuff in time out.  I want to start the latest Dolores outfit, so that’s probably next.

I’ve been in a bit of a funk about working on anything.  This is dangerous because I tend to impulsively jump into something that sounds like it might be fun.  The result this time is that there’s a big bag of sale yarn on the way from Denmark.  The rest of the story will be revealed when the yarn arrives.

Stash Enhancement and Sulking Dolores

I got stuff from WEBS twice this week.  The first was a bunch of DK weight I am using to make blanket squares.  I’m in a swap and need to make ten squares.  It is taking quite a bit of time.

This is what I got today:

The two on the right are the Regia Pairfect self striping sock yarns.  I’ve got three pairs of socks in progress, so they are going to be put away so I am not tempted to play with them.

The two on the left are for the latest Dolores ensemble.  It is a knit pleated skirt and a tweed cable knit sweater.  I am not working on it until the squares are done, which is why Her Highness is sulking.  I put the yellow rain boots on her that go with the outfit.  Now Jasmine the cat is sulking because Dolores’s lap is no longer an acceptable kitty pillow

Once Upon a Sock - October

I knew it wouldn’t take long before sock yarns and patterns started calling to me again.

I finally got through one of the Vixen socks.  Here’s the Vixen, framed on the back of the leg.

There are two pair ready to start.  The green one is the Handmade Sock Society sock called Hazelnut.  I like green better than brown, so I am not making any attempt to go with a color to match the pattern this time.  The yarn is Madelinetosh in colorway Beta.  The blue is Swing Left, pattern and yarn both.

There are two more yarns on the way.  They are both Regia Pairfect.  There’s one pattern with cables that motivated the purchase.  The second skein was Arne and Carlos and just might have been unnecessary.  Okay, it made me happy so it wasn’t strictly unncessary.

WIP Wednesday

Let’s see, what is actually in progress at the moment?

I am up to date on the advent calendar.  It looks like the little pockets for the daily treats might fit the mini skeins I have on order.  The dates on the pockets are not the way the designer intended.  Those are nicer than mine.  I had trouble with the duplicate stitches and the knitting couldn’t survive repeated tries so I simplified them.

I am working on the Vixen aka Fox Sox.  It is one of those choose your adventure patterns where you get several charts and you pick which you use and where.  I always want to do All the Charts.  I think I have worked out a way of doing it.  The foot of each sock will use a different chart.  Since both will be something framed in the same cables, it is close enough for me.  This is an oak leaf:

Queue:  Stars are on hold.  Swing Left socks will probably be after the Fox Sox.  I’m going to do a mini Dolores out of sock yarn.  I’ve got big Dolores’ International Travel outfit on order.  At the same time, I ordered some Regia Pairfect yarn.  I found a couple of patterns that use it that I want to try.

Ball Pit

Anna of Mochimochi Land has put a call out for happy knitted balls to fill a ball pit.  I grabbed some scraps and samples and made these.

There are 13 because the 13th Doctor will debut in 13 days.

Next?  Maybe a bunch of stars!

ETA:  Anna spotted these on Ravelry and wants to use the picture to help spread the word on her project.  How cool is that?

Sock the Vote

I got this kit from Little Skein in the Big Wool.

There’s a really nice, sturdy project bag.  There’s a set of stitch markers in a tin, a Sock the Knit Vote pin,  and a note card.  There’s a skein of yarn and a code for a sock pattern download.

I think that voting is very important this year and hope that everyone does it if they can possibly manage it.  Even if you don’t think your vote will count, just do it.

I do not like discussing politics, but since the yarn and pattern are both called Swing Left, you might guess my preferences.  I hope that people of all different views are heard.

TDS Roundup

I was 56th out of 628.  Not bad, considering I didn’t finish the last pair of socks.  I think it is a little better than last year’s 43 out of 430.

My team was 11th out of over 100.

Most important is more money for MSF/DWB.  Yay to everyone who participated in any way.

WIP: Weather in Progress

I’ve been knitting and watching the approach of Florence on the Weather Channel.  Looks like we’ll only get about a day of rain in north Georgia.  Best wishes to the folks in the Carolinas.  They’ve got to suffer through a big wet windy mess.

As for the other kind of WIPs, it is knit one, frog two.  The advent calendar had some corrections to the pattern after I already knit the affected section.  Taking apart something with 31 color changes in each row is challenging.  I think I’ve figured out how to approach it.  The new section of the pattern is out tomorrow.  I am going to try to hold off on starting it so I can avoid more complicated frogging.
A quick shot of where it is now:

I’ve been working on Ixchel, aka the moon sweater.  I took a good look at it and have decided there are errors I can’t live with.  I can’t face another dip in the frog pond right now.

Fortunately a new project popped up at the perfect time.  Tour de Sock is giving us another pattern to do just for fun.  It is called Vixen and has many textured patterns and no colorwork.  I have some fox colored yarn that’s been gathering dust in my stash for over a decade.  Really.

Once Upon a Sock - September 2018

I picked an odd time to do a monthly sock report.  I’m in sock frogging mode more than knitting.

As previously posted, I bailed on the final socks for Tour de Sock.  Here’s the one I finished, then frogged back before the incorrect heel, then gave up when I could not get the stitch count right.

I don’t feel too bad about it.  I wasn’t the only experienced sock knitter on my team who had trouble and quit.

Before that pattern was released, I started on a pair of Seventh Doctor socks.  These may also be frogged.  The fit isn’t going to be right.  I tried putting the question marks in two different ways.  Neither way worked.  This is duplicate stitch and still doesn’t quite work.

Nothing is planned for socks until next month’s Handmade Sock Society pattern.  Maybe working on the other things will get me back to socks.

Tour de Sock Stage 6

It is now a tradition.  I officially gave up on the final stage.  I won’t go on and on about my frustrations with this pattern.  I will say that I suddenly got happy when I thought about giving up the struggle and doing something fun.

The fun has been piling up!  I got started on my moon sweater, the first section of the advent calendar is waiting to start, and there’s a new outfit for Dolores.  The Dolores outfit is coming with orange yarn I don’t care for.  It is made with fingering weight, so there was no problem finding a replacement in my stash.  It was deep stash (from 2012) which makes me happy.  It has silver sparkles which makes Dolores happy.

Another happy is yarn in the mail.  These came from Knitted Wit.

I’m off to find needles to start the calendar.

That was fast

Miss Babs is only one state over and the yarn was in stock.  I’m still a little bit surprised to have the yarn for my sweater already.

The blue is a bit lighter than the picture and more tonal than solid.  It is just what I wanted.  The yellow is brighter than I wanted, but I think it will work. I was concerned about matching dye lots.  I knit a sweater awhile back with yarn from different lots.  It did not work at all.  The people at Miss Babs assured me that the yarns were dyed in the same dying session.  I think I will follow their advice to alternate the blue yarns just to be sure.

Here’s what I chose for the final socks for Tour de Sock:

The colored yarn is Mad Hatter.  I had so much trouble coming up with an appropriate contrasting yarn on previous socks, I chose white for this one.  The pattern drops at 0700 my time on Saturday.  The final sock is a notoriously obnoxious thing to knit.  I hope that I don’t throw a hissy fit and give up as I have in the past.

Next?

 I gave up on two of the socks I thought I wanted to do.   I did finish this pair:

I have a sweater that needs button bands and a neckband.  I have the choice of buying a replacement copy of the book the pattern is in or figure out the bands myself.  I am leaning toward the latter.  There isn’t anything else in the book that appeals to me to make.

I saw a sweater on Ravelry that I want to make.  It is called Ixchel and has moon-themed patterns.  I like dark blue with yellow/gold patterns which is what this has.  I ordered yarn from Miss Babs and it is already on the way.  It is probably what is next.

Tour de Sock Stage 5

59th place this time.  I knit large socks instead of small ones.  Also spent some time at the vet trying to figure out why Jasmine won’t eat.  I still don’t know why.  I do know that she does not have any of the nasty things wrong with her that 15 year old cats frequently have.

Steeks, Advent, and More Socks

The one bad thing about finishing the most recent Tour de Sock project fast is free time.  I always end up plotting new projects that can’t be started until TdS is done.  I did finish the latest Handmade Sock Society pair, Honey Bee Dance socks.

 I was holding off on finishing my Rose sweater until my sewing machine was fixed.  I read a tutorial on steeking and decided that the sewing part could be done better by hand.  I got excited  and got all of the supplies ready.  Then I couldn’t find the pattern book, a pdf.  I saved it twice on two different devices.  One was a laptop that my cat knocked on the floor and destroyed.  The other was this iPad and it isn’t here now.    Sigh.  I’m waiting to hear if the pdf can be replaced or if I have to buy a new one.

I went browsing on Ravelry, which always gets me into trouble.  I found an advent calendar pattern that I am going to make.  It is a Georgian town house.  The pattern is released once a week and starts the same time as the final TdS sock.

Speaking of advent calendars, I saw an ad for one that’s yarn.  It turns out that a number of dyers do these.  They all work basically the same.  You get 24 mini skeins plus one full size one.  I ordered one from a dyer here in Georgia that’s new to me.  I liked the looks of her yarn.  I like speckled yarns and this is what is coming.  Everything is wrapped individually, so the fun can go on daily for most of December.

The dyer is on Etsy.  Since I am apparently incapable of only buying from one person when I am there, a couple more skeins are on the way from Knitted Wit.  One colorway will result in a donation to the legal fund to help get refugee children back with their parents.  I refuse to feel the least bit bad about doing that.

Meanwhile back on Ravelry, I went through my library and found four pair of socks that would be good to make.  I had the silly idea that stash diving would give me most of what I needed for them.  Anything else could be added to the DK needed for the advent calendar and I could get a discount from WEBS on the whole thing.  I was only partially right.  All 4 needed white and 3 of the 4 needed black.  Guess what colors I was out of?  A big box is on the way.

The patterns are Question mark socks (they look like the 7th Doctor’s outfit), Shersocks (they resemble the wallpaper Sherlock shot at), Spooktacular Halloween socks, and Ukrainian Rose socks.  The last one is modified from a mitten pattern.  I’ve already worked out the modifications.  Where’s my yarn?  I want to cast these on immediately.

Dolores is ready for Rhinebeck

It has been fun to see what people have been doing with Dolores.  One woman took her to Paris and got a picture of her with the Eiffel Tower in the background.  One had Dolores without clothes lying on a beach towel under her parasol.  Mine thinks that’s an excellent idea as the weather is not appropriate for a sweater dress and leg warmers.

Tour de Sock Stage 4

I still can’t believe that I finished these in a day and a half.  I came really close to the fastest person on the TARDIS teams, too.   I am cautiously optimistic that my rank on this stage will be a lot higher than the previous three.

ETA:  my optimism was rewarded.  21st place!

Dolores as Thirteen?

 It was one of my weird ideas.  Like most of them, it didn’t work out that well.  Dolores was unhappy with the whole thing.  She calmed down when I explained that her Rhinebeck outfit kit has been ordered.  She almost forgave me when I told her that Franklin has designed a gown and matching turban that I will make for her, too.  It may come with a Dolores sized martini glass.

Tour de Sock Stage 3

My intentions were good in yarn selection this time.  The choice wasn’t as successful as I hoped.  A totally solid light color with regular strength fingering would’ve been good.  The pattern suggested light fingering.  The one I used was splitting with virtually no stitch definition.  I half expect to be asked to supply more pictures so the judges can see that I did knit the pattern correctly.

No more socks until Stage 4, probably a week away.  In the meantime, I am planning a 13th Doctor cosplay outfit for Dolores.  I expect it will take vast quantities of vodka to bribe her to wear something this nerdy.  Sorry, Dolores, you are in a Whovian household.  Just be glad you aren’t being dressed as a Dalek.

ETA I didn’t have to send more pictures and came in 46th.  It is the closest I have been to the usual first place person on my team. She had to take an unfortunate dip in the frog pond, so it won’t happen again.

Dolores update

The troubles I had with her pattern have been addressed.  Unfortunately it wasn’t until several days after I completed her.  Fortunately most of what I did was correct or close enough.  Somehow some things fell through the cracks during the tech editing phase, so it wasn’t my fault.

If anyone reading this wants to do a Dolores, there’s a knitalong for her starting on Ravelry soon.   I think it could be done successfully solo with the updated pattern and the pictures that have been added to Ravelry.  It might be more fun to do with others, though.

Preorders are open for her Rhinebeck outfit.  It is a sweater dress with a patterned yoke, leg warmers, a hat, and a parasol.  Webs already has my order.

Tour de Sock Stage 2

These were done correctly but you can barely tell because I stretched the definition of Tonal yarn a bit too far.  The next stage also wants tonal.  I have already replaced my original choice with an almost solid darkish blue and clear beads.

It was a little disappointing to finish two days faster than the first pair and still ranking about the same.  It is time to reset my expectations.  It is still good to supply my team with some points.

ETA:  another check of the Leaderboard shows that I was 48th, not 151st on this stage.  Much happier and encouraged by this.

I don’t have to go

::hopping around the house singing “I don’t have to go!”::

My standby group for jury duty has been cleared.  I don’t mind the idea of doing my civic duty.  However it would involve getting up at 5 am and driving into downtown Atlanta during rush hour.  I am not sure whether or not I am capable of the drive because my legs get stiff and crampy if I attempt anything too extensive.  I am a little over a year from getting out of the pool of jurors permanently.  Thus the singing.

What the heck does this have to do with knitting?  I will be able to start the next leg of Tour de Sock right on time and maybe get some more points for my team.  Yay!

She’s Heee-eeeere

It’s Dolores, Georgia style.  The only major difference between this one and the original are the ears.  They were placed as the pattern directed, but it turned out to be too high.  Her sunglasses won’t fit over the ears.  I am leaving them as is because I like the startled look it gives her.

She’s soft enough so I can rearrange her stuffing which I keep doing after seeing this picture.  Her measurements are correct so her future wardrobe should fit.  I am working on her shawlette.  She doesn’t seem to mind sitting around in nothing but her fleece.  It is hot here.

Must Stash, in more ways than one

Darn it, that came out kind of dark after excessive uploading drama.  These came from Must Stash Yarns today.  The top one is Dark Side EVP.  The middle is Woodstock.  The bottom is Bohemian (like in rhapsody).  They came with a teeny vinyl record that looks like it could be played if I had a teeny record player.

The colors are great.  I will stash them away and be happily surprised to pull them out in the future.

Each skein is actually two identical self-striping skeins.  I’ve knit with this before and they really are identical.  There’s no pulling out yards of yarn, trying to figure out where the repeat starts.  You pay a bit more for that.  If you want two things that match, it is totally worth it.

13/10, would happily stash again.  Oops, too much time reading We Rate Dogs on Twitter.

Tour de Sock Stage One

These took longer than planned, but at least they are done.  I was early enough that my points will count for my team.  That makes it good enough for me.

It is possible that the next stage will be later than planned.  I’m on standby for jury duty close to when it starts.  I won’t know until the night before if I have to go or not.

What’s new that isn’t good:  the war on fleas continues, I got sick, the cat destroyed a second computer in a year, and my latest yarn order is on a magical mystery tour.  I have had the yarn situation before.  It will have gotten to the correct post office to get to me next.  USPS will then inexplicably ship the package to San Francisco or Anchorage.  It will come back to Kansas City and/or St Louis and then spend days bouncing back and forth between Roswell and Alpharetta.  I will get it eventually.  It is still better than trying to get something via Amazon shipping.

What’s new that’s good:  cautiously optimistic on flea efforts, I got better, my tablet is working fine until the new computer comes, and my Dolores kit is here.  I will be watching the classic Doctor Who marathon and knitting the ill-bred purebred sheep of Rassilon.

Still no new knitting

Tour de Sock starts on Sunday.  I attempted a swatch and it appears that I will be using 00 dpns.  I am not a happy bunny.  They have to be metal because I break anything else that thin.  They are very pointy and they poke me.  ::sulk::

I started a cross stitch kit that I have had since 1991.  Holy cow, that’s 27 years.  That must be a stash record.  

The Dolores sheep kit should arrive today or tomorrow.  I will definitely be grabbing needles to start her as soon as she appears.  Franklin Habit described her purple rolling suitcase and
I am planning on making one for her wardrobe.  A trip to a craft store is in the works for the supplies. It should be fun and a stress reliever between TDS rounds

Frogs and Robots

Everything that was in progress is done, pretty much.  The sweater I started in February is done, but wants blocking.  The Shetland sweater just needs steeking and a button band.  I don’t know if my sewing machine is up to steeking prep, so this may not happen soon.  I did the Tour de Sock warmup socks and the latest Handmade Sock Society pattern.  I don’t like the way either pair looks so no ugly pictures.

I want to avoid starting any big projects before Tour de Sock starts.  Will I be able not start anything for two weeks?

I have a basket full of little kits from Mochmochi Land and from Mollie Makes.  I am working my way through them.  So far there are frogs and robots.

Stash Enhancement Saturday

It’s Friday as this is being entered, but the yarn arrived today so the post goes now.

Invictus sent Bring a Banana, complete with sparkles.  It will be used with Allons-y for one of the TDS pairs.  Whovians will understand why this is a good pairing.

Also from Invictus is Thirteen, also for Tour de Sock.

This is Farewell from Peggy Jane Fibers.  I saw it on a certain stash enabler’s blog coughTammycough.  Peggy Jane created it in honor of her mother who passed away from early onset Altzheimers.

I like the colors plus the story made me think of my dad, who had dementia at the end of his life.

When the yarn arrived, it reminded me of something that made me smile.  After his funeral, some flowers arrived that were clearly delivered in error.  The arrangement was perfect to congratulate parents on the birth of a baby girl.  The card was from people we didn’t know.  At a sad time, we had something to joke about.

Work in progress

I have been working on my Rose sweater from The Vintage Shetland Project while watching classic Doctor Who.  The sweater work came to a screeching halt when one of the colors ran out.  The good news is that I saw it coming and additional yarn should be here on Monday.  Thanks, WEBS.

Despite the fuzzy pic, you can see that 12 long rounds can’t be done with five inches of yarn.

Tour de Sock yarn picking

The supplies list has been posted and I jumped right on it.  It was extra fun this time because each project has a nickname from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  I managed to come up with all yarns that connect to Doctor Who in some way.

So I have the list in an extra location:

• Arthur - MC Shut Up, CC Your Father Smelt of Elderberries 
• Ford - Roll Credits
• Trillian - Liberty and Yarn for All
• Zaphod - Fantastic!
• Marvin - Thirteen
• Slartibartfast - MC Allons-y, CC Bring a Banana

More of the same

It is almost to the point where the sleeves start.

Upcoming projects are:

• The June Handmade Sock Society pattern.  It shows up on Monday.  I suspect that I will continue with the sweater first.
• The Tour de Sock warmup sock pattern.  I was going to skip it, but it is short and looks like it has some interesting twists and turns.
• Tour de Sock yarn selection.  I don’t expect to need yarn (looking at buckets of stash and snickering).  I do expect to buy some.  I like Invictus and Miss Babs best among the sponsors and am unable to resist the TdS discount codes.
• Immediate project is the War on Fleas.  Poor cat is suffering and they are starting in on me.  Georgia fleas are the worst.

Knitting Lessons

I have learned a number of things while working on this sweater.

1.  If one is knitting the entire body of a sweater at once, use metal needles.  I started with wooden tips and one snapped.  The Addi Turbos I got as a replacement work much better.

2.  If one is doing a big project with many colors, ALL of the yarns must be of the same type from the same manufacturer.  The unintended texture may block out.  I hope so.

3.  If one uses colors as written, it might not be a good idea.  The sweater is from The Vintage Shetland Project.  I wanted to stay true to the vintage colors.  They aren’t exactly my favorites, though.  If I find myself in this position again, I will pick my own colors.

4.  I will use a different manufacturer’s yarn. I won’t identify where most of this came from.   If the reader has been visiting knitting social media recently, you know what it is.   People who want to be hateful can do it with someone else’s money.

Nothing’s Finished Friday

l have some new yarn.

This is Koigu.  It was an impulse buy.  I was checking Wool Watcher on Jimmy Beans Wool.  When I saw Koigu on sale, I promptly lost my mind.

This was a mostly deliberate purchase from Webs.

All but the blue multicolored in back are for a sweater.  It’s the Rose sweater from the Shetland book.  The blue multi is an Arne and Carlos that I just had to have.

Nothing is finished because all three projects are at a boring place.

Sock Arm Sleeves needs 5 more inches of knitknitknit before anything interesting happens.

Tipsy Toes Socks need about 4 more inches of knitknitknit before heel shaping starts.  I started these partly because I was tired of working on the sweater.  Have I mentioned that before?  Heeheehee.

I spent over an hour with the yarn winder to get everything ready for the Rose sweater.  That’s how much I wanted to avoid the other projects.  It had been started and it now needs about 2 inches of k1p1 before anything interesting happens.

Vacuuming is starting to sound really fun.