January 31

It's the last day of the first month of the Year of 100 Projects, and.....

Project number 10 is done!!!!!!!!!  (And yes, there are finished pajama bottoms as well, but we all know I can do that....it's the pajama tops that are always in doubt......or in a black hole or wherever the heck it is)

Checking in on my progress for the year:

Projects done: 10
Yards of yarn used up: 1442
Skeins/hanks of yarn used:  7.25
Yards of fabric used:  9.08

If I kept up the same pace all year, (which we all know is seriously unlikely, but work with me here for a second), I would finish the year with:

120 projects

17,304 yards of yarn

87 skeins of yarn

108.96 yards of fabric

Which is pretty close to what I did during my first year of cold-sheeping, so I guess it doesn't sound too far off at all.  Rats....I was hoping my first month had been more...record-setting? 

One of my hopes for 2010 is that by finishing all these projects, I will use up huge amounts of my stash, and thereby freeing up room in the sewing room.  As I wasn't on a fabric buying ban last year, let's just say that there has been little real progress toward finding the floor in the last year.  So.....I have decided to go on a fabric-buying ban as well--though I don't have a cute name for that (going "Cold Fabric" or "Cold Cotton" just not having the same fun-factor as "Cold-Sheeping").  My only exceptions will be:

* to finish a project
* if I need something for a gift that I really have no other appropriate material for (seems unlikely)
* the March visit by some of our closest friends--I can resist buying yarn while they're here, but there WILL be a trip to Joann's then and all bets are of.....

Still......90 PROJECTS TO GO, AND 11 MONTHS IN WHICH TO DO THEM.....:)

Um.....

So, the front of the cowl-neck sweater is one inch PAST where I'm supposed to divide for the neck:

which, by my calculations, would be approximately just above my belly button.

Okay.........

Now, not that I'm a prude or anything, but there's a difference between wearing a low-cut sweater and just standing for a picture....

and wearing a low cut sweater in real life....and the odds are pretty good that the difference would involve randomly flashing people.  So, I'm thinking I want to add a few inches before the neck.  Maybe 3? 4?

Sunshine Award

Alison over at Yarn in my Pocket recently presented me with the "Sunshine Award."  Ta-da:

(Or, in the spirit of my spell-checker, tuba!)

The award is "for bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blogging world."

Awww...*blush*

Of course, I am well aware that I often inspire people in sort of a reverse-sort of way....like discouraging them from placing that late-night yarn order because they don't want to face 3 years of Cold Sheeping just to be able to get their closet doors closed (which is still impossible, by the way...).  But we who dig ourselves in to strange and often humorous situations grasp at what we can....

So, the rules of the award are:

• Put the logo on my blog or within a post
• Pass the award onto 12 bloggers;
• Link the nominees within your post;
  
• Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog;
• Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award!

Alison actually shared this with both my blogs, but I decided to put it on the knitting one because the on-line knitting world is simply amazing to me.  In some ways, the internet has given a forum for some very hateful human beings--and the comments left on news stories and even book reviews can be hateful, mean, and simply vile.  The knitting world, however, is populated by total strangers who leave supportive messages for each other, help each other find discontinued yarns, help each other solve problems--it's simply amazing.  I have all these wonderful friends through blogging--and I may or may not recognize them if I passed them on the streets tomorrow, but I could probably identify their knitting.  How funny is that?  So.....that's probably a long way to say that this award is really, really accurate--there are bloggers who bring sunshine to the lives of others.  To share a few (12):

1.  Daniele, who happens to also be quite the Mafia Wars mafioso.  Andy finds it funny that I actually have a "knitting mafia"......but he doesn't laugh too loudly as he knows my knitting mafia could whup his mafia's arse.....

2.  Mandy, who is my crafting hero.  She can effortlessly sew, quilt, knit--you name it--and has a great talent for knowing how to put colors together.  Very talented woman--I always visit her blog for inspiration when I'm getting a thorough arse-kicking by a quilting project....which is, pretty much, every time I try quilting.

3.  Ella, who is not only a talented knitter, but (in my humble little opinion) a wonderful photographer....not to mention a bilingual blogger, which impresses me as so many Americans can't seem to even master one language......

4.  Alice, one of the few bloggers I know in real life and someone who is simply a joy to know.

5.  No-Blog Rachel,who can knit Swallowtail shawls faster than anyone I know

6.  RobinH (she of the comments-that-are-often-funnier-than-my-blog-entry), who has accepted the challenge and is now trying to reach 100 finished objects in 2010 before I do.  (If you're going to be crazy, it's more fun if you take others along with you.....)



And I know, it says 12, but this actually takes quite a bit longer than one might think, so I'm stopping half-way so I can get a few of the "must-do" items done today.

To be continued........

'Cause You Know I'm Going To......

Originally I had intended to assert that I had not yet actually decided to attempt an entire sweater for the Ravelympics, when I found myself scrounging in the closet for the appropriate yarn.  This means that I have apparently committed to trying to knit one entire sweater in 16 days.  I haven't actually forgotten that in the past I have called Elizabeth Zimmerman a few purls short of a ribbing for suggesting that her January aran pattern could be completed within a one month time-frame--especially since it took me 4 months just to whine about the steeks--but I think yarn must emit certain fumes that erase all rational thought.  Think about it--this would explain the existence of size zero (or, heaven forbid, size 000) knitting needles.  It is such a powerful force that I actually caught myself thinking, "Hm....should I also enter a WIP just in case I finish the sweater early????"

I was relieved to see that projects could be entered in more than one event, so I will be also be able to enter the "Stash Compulsory Dance" event, as the yarn of choice

has actually been in my stash for about 5 years.  I ordered it when I was planning to make Andy a sweater--sort of defying the dratted "Boyfriend Sweater Curse," because we were engaged but not yet married when I made it.  When I ordered this yarn, I was as yet unaware that to the male half of the human species, "blue" is only acceptable as a color if it is somewhere within the royal to navy shading.  Anything lighter or have any other variation is unacceptable as it somehow challenges their masculinity.  I've never quite understood this, as even though there are shades of pink I don't particularly care for, they don't make me think I might lose a breast or an ovary if I wear them.  But, we moved on to a safer blue

and I kept the questionable yarn for a future sweater for me. 

Does anyone know how long a human being can go without sleep. and is it by any chance 16 days?????

Trying Something New

For Valentine's Day, Andy and I have made it a tradition to make each other gifts.  So far the tradition is also that we don't actually manage to get them done BY Valentine's Day.  BUT, in a fit of forward-thinking and being-on-top-of-things (which I can only guess is a leftover effect from the cold medication as it is so obviously not a part of my nature), I started Andy's gift yesterday.  Any guesses?

That's right....pajamas AGAIN!  I promise, I really don't have a monomania for pajamas...well, maybe...but these are cotton and will be short sleeved, so they should be nice for summer.  My little sidekick felt the need to help as usual, until I distracted him with an organization project that must have looked like more fun to interrupt

The pajamas are all cut out....and I haven't lost any of the pieces!  I hope to distract Theo enough to start sewing them tonight.  After all, the Ravelympics start on February 12, and if I'm going to do something crazy like knitting a whole sweater, I won't have time to be sewing.....or probably sleeping, come to think of it......

The Ravelympics Are About To Begin!

The signups for the 2010 Ravelympics are in full swing.  I have joined "Team Stashdown" and now I need to pick my events.  The choices are:

• Aerial Unwind  (Frog those poor unloved projects to reclaim that yarn. (This event only: requires a WIP pic and frog pile pic)
• Bag Jump  (Bags, totes, pouches)
• Beading Biathlon  (All things beaded and embellished)
• Bobsled  (All things pets)
• Cable Cross-Country  (All things cables)
• Charity Curling  (Projects for charity)
• Designer Biathlon  (From a swatch to published pattern in 17 days sample completed and pattern released on ravelry - swatching allowed before torch lit)
• Designer Original Dance  (Create your own design sample from scratch in 17 days {swatching allowed before torch lit}; pattern need not be written)
• Designer Pattern Skeleton (Create a publishable pattern (sample can be already knit); do what you feel is necessary to produce a publishable pattern testing, editing, etc)
• Downhill Dyeing  (dyeing yarns - this will only create stash)
• Felting Freestyle  (All things felting and fulled)
• Fleece to FO Long-Track  (Start with fleece or roving and create a finished object)
• Flying Camel Spin  (Just spinning…lots and lots of spinning)
• Free Dance  (Don’t fit into any other event? This is for you)
• Giant Slalom-ghan  (Afghan, blankets, throws)
• Hat Halfpipe  (All things hats and heads)
• Holiday Jump-Start Skiing  (Projects to be gifted/given in Dec 2010 and holiday-themed items)
• Junior Olympics  (garments/accessories for kids and babies {toys have their own event})
• Labyrinth Weaving  (All things woven)
• Lace Luge  (Lace patterns and laceweight yarns)
• Mittens Moguls  (Mittens, gloves, anything that covers hands/wrists/arms)
• Nordic Colorwork Combined  (Colorwork, intarsia, fair isle)
• Platter Lift  (Home and décor projects)
• Samalog Machine Skate  (Machine knitting)
• Scarf Super-G  (Scarves, cowls, neckwarmers, smokerings, scarflettes…all things neck)
• Short Track Shawls  (Shawls, stoles, wraps, shawlettes)
• Single Skein Speed Skate  (Projects of just one skein/hank)
• Skelegurumi  (Toys and amigurumis)
• SnowCross   (Projects that combine knitting, crochet, needle-felting, embroidery, sewing …; minimum of 2 crafts combined together)
• Sock Hockey  (All things socks and slippers)
• Stash Compulsory Dance  (Use of long-neglected stash purchased at least 1 year ago)
• Sweaterboard Cross  (All forms of sweaters, vests, cardis, pullovers, boleros)
• WIPs-Dancing  (WIPs/UFOs and only these; Projects not touched since Jan 12th)

I made a fairly pathetic showing during the 2006 Ravelympics, So I'm hoping to do a bit better this time.  I don't know what events to join, however.  Do I do a few small projects--like Sock Hockey and maybe Holiday Jump-Start Skiing, or do I go for the gusto and join the Sweaterboard Cross and maybe try for this sweater?  Of course, the Stash Compulsory Dance is right up my alley, since almost ALL my yarn was purchased more than a year ago.....or I could save Andy's sweater for WIPs Dancing........

Decisions! Decisions!  Decisions!!!!

Finishing Friday & TWO Finished Projects

A badly finished project is still a finished project, right?

The day started off well.  With my enthusiastic sidekick to cheer me on,

I finished the snowflake runner

which I am immensely pleased with.  I call it a table runner because I can't think of what else to call it.  It's to go here

which is a shelf halfway up the stairs (the picture is looking down from the top.  Fully decorated, it looks like this now

from the top--hoping not to give anyone vertigo

and from the part-way up the stairs view.  I am REALLY pleased with how it looks--not to mention it is finished project NUMBER 8!!!!

Then I decided to embroider a set of towels while I did some knitting, and towel number one turned out perfectly:

I thought they'd be cute for the guest bath for spring.  Towel number two I'm not ready to talk about yet.  Let's just say it's done, and it will probably be used in the master bath because Andy will have the sense not to ask why I spelled "Sutton" with a big thread snarl instead of an "S."

So that winds up the day with TWO finished projects.....and a cranky crafter in need of a white chocolate martini.........

We Have Buttons!

In the future I'm thinking it would be a good idea to either A) combine all my button stash into ONE container, or B) remember that my button stash actually is in several containers.  Not to get all "organized" or anything, but this does seem somewhat logical.....

All of that aside, I found buttons!

And I think they are perfect.....aside from the fact that they're sort of pointy and catch a bit on the yarn

but isn't cuteness more important?  Especially when I'm not the person who will have to button them.......?

After swearing loudly about how long the BSJ was taking and how I was tired of working on it, last night when I was ready to cuddle up under the covers with a book I discovered--horror of horrors--that I didn't have anything to knit while reading!

Now this might be a tragedy in my life at any time, but in a year when I'm trying to complete an insane number of projects, this was just an impossible situation.  So, after a brief check through my Ravelry queue, I cast on 

 This is on size 10.5 needles, which would be absolutely perfect except for one tiny detail:  Every time I use these needles it reminds me of the time we used them to give my "Baby Alive" doll an enema.  (There are some memories that those who did NOT learn to knit a child just won't have).  For those who aren't well versed in some of the bad toy ideas of the 1970s, Baby Alive (which for some unknown reason is STILL available), the doll came with some food powder that turned into a gelatinous goo, which optimistic children then "fed" to the doll (who could sort of chew with the assistance of batteries), and then later the doll would "poop."  And this was a selling point for some reason--probably for children like me who were the youngest and therefore not very well acquainted with the real thing.  At any rate, I think the goo had to rely on gravity to actually make it out, which wasn't all that effective.  Thus the need for a large, long pointy object........

Ah, the things we remember from childhood..........

On a less disgusting note, I thought I would take advantage of a napping cat

to get the table runner finished.  I got one side of the fusible fleece cut before a displeased Theo caught me....

Sooner or later he's going to get hungry..........

It's A Conspiracy!

I didn't get to work on the table runner today either...

It seems they're taking turns now.

So instead, I finished the BSJ..YAY!!!!!

I'm thinking navy blue buttons would look fabulous...which of course I don't have in my stash. 

And, just to spite the cats, I made a towel today as well:

The stabilizer still needs to be washed off, but I love how it turned out.  Unfortunately, the coffee cup is embroidered with REALLY long satin stitch, so I need to see if I can change that.  Otherwise, it's not a great design for a towel because it won't hold up to many washings.  Now, if I had ever read the instruction manual that came with the software, I would probably know exactly how to do it--and would possibly even know how to check what it will do BEFORE stitching it out.  As it is......I'll be lucky to find the manual.  At any rate.....

7 down - 93 to go!!!!!!!

Me And My Clever Plan....

This weekend I wanted to ASTOUND you with 2 more finished projects.....which is why there were no blog entries.  I swear that the BSJ should be almost done.....but I've thought that for the last 2 days as well.  I do have one finished project to show you.  Remember this?

Yah, I don't either, but I started it sometime this fall and I have been moving it around in the craft room ever since.  It is truly lucky to have survived this far, as I missed a step on the pattern and to fix it I had to rip out the zipper and do it over a second time!  It seems that my desire to finish 100 projects for the year has overridden my loathing of zippers and has saved this dress from the Bin Of Projects Which Shall Not Be Named.  Of course, I'm going to chalk it up to "personal growth" anyway.  Hey, my blog....my rules.

Theo wanted nothing to do with the dress, but the next project,

he is all over.  Literally. 

When Theo is through with it, it will be a table-runner of sorts.  Being a maniac, I decorate our house for seasons every year.  In all honesty, it started because we bought the house in July of 2006, had a house-warming party in August, then got married in September AND HAD AN OPEN HOUSE THE VERY NEXT DAY.  It was easier to buy some fall decorations and put them up than to decide on anything permanent (or, you know, find them in all the boxes...), and now 4 years later I am STILL working on permanent decorations.  Anyway, that's a really long way to say that what Theo is hiding will be a winter decoration--sort of a table-runner made of navy plush with snowflakes embroidered on it.  And, of course, cat fur.

So, 18 days into 2010 and I have 5 finished projects (YAY!) and have used up 737 yards of yarn and 2.75 yards of fabric.  Oh, and have a new dress as well....

Finishing Friday

There was sewing today!!!!!  Not that Theo cared--it was sunny today so he went out to find me a mouse--which was thankfully dead before I received it.  If I weren't a cat owner/staff member, dead animals in my house might freak me out.  As it is, it's more of a "Whoo hoo!  At least I don't have to catch it" sort of thing.

Anyway, we can add 4 gift bags (which I'm counting as 2 projects because they don't feel like 4 projects and I'm not stupid enough to call them 1) to the "finished" tally:

You've probably noticed there are only 3--the 4th had a tragic incident involving a cup of coffee, and has been rinsed and is hopefully drying safely in the bathroom (you never know with dry-clean-only fabrics).  I had intended to make lots more bags because I thought they would be really cute to put jars of jam in, but after wrestling with this very ravel-y fabric through 2 wine bags and 5 jam bags, I decided that making both the gift AND the gift bag went shooting right past "over-achiever" into "needs professional help."  So we'll stop here.

Tonight will be spent with this

which is a Baby Surprise Jacket that I cast on a couple days ago when I had taken more cold medicine and needed a simple project to work on.  It was in one of my "project bags" for the year, so it was sort of a surprise.  Unfortunately when I went to add it to my page on Ravelry I discovered that I hadn't ever accounted for the yarn, so my stash tally grew a little in the process.  I suppose it comes from being a bit of a yarn snob--I'm using Caron Simply Soft, which is a cheap yarn that I probably didn't want to admit to using to the knitting world, so we'll just keep it our little secret.  I've only used it for BSJs, but it's so soft and babies grow so fast that I thought the babies would outgrow it before the yarn started looking too shabby.   Or at least that's what I'm hoping.

So, today is the 15th of January, and in order to reach 100 projects for the year I need to average just over 8 projects every month, and I have just reached "4."  I am actually ON TARGET!  Okay, with 350 days to go it's probably too early to get really excited, but I thought I'd be behind already, so this is actually quite exciting.  I wonder if I can stay on track all month????  Er, all year, I mean........

14 Days

So, remember that resolution of mine to NOT renew my knitting magazine subscriptions?

I might have blown it.  Depending on technicalities.

Today I subscribed to Piecework magazine, which technically I didn't "renew" because I've never subscribed to it before, though technically it is sort of a knitting magazine, so it depends which technicality we go with.  It feels like I've blown my resolution, so I think that's the one we're going with.  But maybe I can content myself with just this ONE magazine.  Sure, there's still the issue of finding a place to put the magazines, but there will only be 6, so maybe I can do it.  I have been interested in the history of knitting for a while, but the only book I found on it was boring & not actually much of what I was looking for.  This magazine hopefully is focused on the history and heritage of knitting, crochet, embroidery and other needlework crafts, which I thought sounds fascinating.  There do seem to be some historic knitting patterns, which I will be very interested to try--though hopefully they have updated the whole needle size thing, and dropped those scary 000 needles.  Who has the heart for that?

So.....I lasted 13 days without being subscribed to any sort of knitting magazine.  I think that's my longest record yet.

Theo Is Having A Tough Day Today

It began with a sulk because I had errands to run instead of sewing

then he decided to help me while I hung these

which are wooden snowflakes that Andy made for me this year.  We have this huge, blank, curved wall just as you walk in the door, and now that the tree and the festive garlands are gone, it's big, white & boring, so I was looking for something to liven it up a bit.  Anyway, you know how when something is on a string and you push it away from you, it will come back?  So does Theo now, though he seems to think it was attacking him.  He ran down the stairs and took up refuge down next to the bottom of the stairs, but then when I lowered one of the snowflakes (which are suspended by fishing line), he seems to have thought the snowflake was attacking him, and spent the next hour hiding under the improvised "kitty tent" in our room.

He was just getting over that, when I frightened him again by taking my blocking wires out of their tube--don't ask me how.  This

totally traumatized him.  I guess I could have been nice and blocked it on the floor so he could lay on it, but it's kind of exciting to block things WITHOUT getting cat hair all over them.  Now he's hiding in the corner

and I am keeping my scary self away from him. 

If it doesn't frighten him, we will definitely need to spend some time sewing tomorrow.....

2 Down, 98 To Go!

(You know at some point, that I won't be frightened by the "to-go" number.)

The lace scarf is done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Okay, it still needs to be washed & blocked and all of that, but I now have TWO finished projects!  Whoo hoo!

I thought I might finish yesterday--which explains the lack of a post.  I can see that this might lead to a little obsessive behavior this year--or more obsessive than normal, let's say.................... 

There Has Been Knitting!

Well, the bronchitis is still with me, but the knock-out drugs are all gone, so I'm coughing but not sleeping all the time.  I don't know if it's an improvement or not, but I have to be getting close to the end of this.  According to the handout I got from the doctor's office, viral bronchitis generally lasts 10-14 days, and I'm probably at 12 right now.  (Not counting the weeks of a cold of course).  This is beginning to make surgery recovery look speedy!

Since I can't really sew--or do much of anything else--I have been knitting.  The latest project is a faggoting sampler scarf

which is just over half done now.  I'm not sure how well you'll be able to see it, but I started with a k2tog, double YO pattern (purling even rows):

then after a stockinette break, moved on to a k2tog, YO pattern on every row:

then to a K2tog, YO on right side rows and purling wrong side rows:

then to my new favorite, [k2tog, Yo, K1] on every row

I think it will be easier to see after blocking, but I'm doing the mirror image on the second half now, so it could be finished in a couple days.  Still not exactly 1 project every 3 days, but I think I can catch myself up with some sewing projects that need to be done.  Or maybe an embroidered towel or two---they take enough time for each one to count as a separate project, right?

Things A Knitter Might Wonder While Taking Prescription Drugs

*  If there is a worsted-weight yarn, why isn't there a bested-weight?

*  Is Fun Fur really fun?

*  Did the first knitter actually know when he or she made mistakes, or was that privilege reserved for the second knitter?

*  Would tea help my bronchitis more if I knit it a tea cozy?

*  Why did Red Heart Yarn become so popular in the 1970s?  Were drugs really that widespread?

*  How many cotton sweaters must I knit before I realize that I rarely wear them?

*  Can I make it an entire year before losing my resolve and resubscribing to every knitting magazine I can find?

*  Do people knit "willy warmers" just because it's fun to say, or do some people actually wear them?

*  What does it say about me that I was able to teach myself to knit using just a cheap booklet, yet couldn't even begin to figure out tatting even though both grandmothers tried to show me?

*  Will the third year of Cold Sheeping finally end with me being able to put the closet doors back on?

*  Will my friends eventually get tired of scarves?

*  Why is all lace yarn under one yarn-weight category?  Shouldn't there be subsets, like "acceptable," "challenging," and "run for cover?"

*  Is it just a coincidence that the one who is militant about keeping the house cool (and the heating bills low) is the one who knits the sweaters?

*  How many more days of these drugs can I take before I start knitting toilet paper cover dolls???????

One Down, 99 To Go!

With the aid of a lot of coffee, I have managed to not nap today so I could finish this:

The January Project of the Month is done!  YAY!!!  It actually still needs a couple buttons, but I thought I might wait until I'm not on drugs for that.  I want to make sure they match, are in the right spot, and are sewn onto the correct side and I'm just not sure I can guarantee that sort of accuracy this week.  I'll let myself nap again tomorrow, but I am just so tired of being sick right now--I really felt the need to accomplish SOMETHING. 

I haven't decided if I'll cast on something new or content myself with existing projects.  Certainly something very easy in yarn that can't split might be a good idea.  A scarf perhaps? 

Three more days of the drugs to go........

Front, Back, And One Sleeve Done!

In spite of the massive drugs and that I am actually napping more than Theo this week, there has been knitting!  The baby sweater has a front & back, one sleeve, and I am about to cast on the second sleeve.  I'll have to take another dose of knock-out pills shortly, but I promise to get a picture during my next bout of consciousness. 

Theo is still playing nursemaid, but thankfully Andy caught him before he got upstairs with his "get-well" mouse yesterday.  Not that I don't appreciate the thought, but I'm just not sure a live mouse would have helped me much........

Our Normally Scheduled Knitting Blog Will Not Appear Today

Due to a case of bronchitis and some seriously powerful drugs, our normally scheduled knitting blog will not appear today.  Theo reports that he is keeping a close eye on our groggy knitter, and promises to sleep on her head as often as possible. 

January 1 - 100 Projects To Go

What was I thinking????????????????

Okay, 365 days and 100 projects.  So, I need to finish a project ever 3.65 days.  Oh my.

Since it is the first of the month, I pulled out a Project of the Month bag and found

which I'm going to guess meant that I was to cast on for this

It's a cute pattern that I've made before, but to finish it in one month might take some doing.  I did get this far today

but even in my best knitterly optimism, I'm pretty sure this won't be finished in another 3 days.  Even if this cold continues to hang on--which it seems determined to do. 

Since we had to bow out of the New Year's Eve parties last night, I took a shot of Robitussin and spent the evening with Andy's sweater

which was a lot more enjoyable than the Robitussin.  Meanwhile Theo, who does appear to read the blog after all, has been regularly checking the ironing board for more surreptitious blocking

He and I both know there' still a kimono shawl to be blocked, so he's taking no chances.  To be honest, I think I'll wait until I'm off of the cold medicine for that.  Considering how many typos I managed in yesterday's post, I could end up felting the poor thing or blocking it into a tea cozy.  (And if you were all taking the same amount of cold medicine as I am, that would be really, really funny--which I think proves my point.....)