A Little Yarn On The Side

This arrived in a Christmas package yesterday: YAY!!!!!!!  The maroon is a lovely wool/angora blend, and the pinks are merino/silk/cashmere blends.  I'm just going to pet them for the next few weeks.  They're amazing.  And since they are a gift, they are guilt free new amazing yarn!   Totally made my day. And, there is one more skein of yarn used up for the year, and in one last mad attempt to make it to use up one more ball of yarn before the year is over, the second sock is now in progress.  Admittedly, it's a really stupid choice as it's fingering weight yarn AND size one needles AND 253-yards rather than a more intelligent 100-yard skein in worsted might be, but I am nothing if not completely delusional in these matters.  I think it's because some teensy, tiny completely insane part of me really thinks I could still make it over 16,000 yards knit for the year, and the sock is moving rather quickly as it's just rounds of knitting, but 450...

The mohair scarf is done!!!!! It's the longest scarf I've ever made, but with the European scarf-tying look being so popular right now, I thought long might be best, though I'm now worried I made it too long.  Maybe I'll block it a bit wider to shrink the length just a bit.  BUT, 245 yards of yarn from my recent yarn order have been used up and won't have to be accounted for on my start-of-year yarn tally that I am going to make myself do.  Another 1000 yards by the end of the year, and it will be like that 1375-yard hank never happened............ I started to cast on the second sock for this pair because it's the closest to being a Finished Project in my huge pile of WIPS, but then I remembered:  I made it to 111 finished projects already.  Now I'm after yardage for the year.   (Knit just for fun?  What???)  So, I have dug out my birthday socks, because if you look really closely: this sock is really close to being done, and when it ...

 Andy and I generally pick "themes" to do for Christmas gifts, but after all the fun we had last year with gifts for each others' hobbies, we decided to do it again this year. For a while I had been planning to make Andy some fleece pajamas--probably more for lounging than sleeping, but something comfy and warm to change into after work, and since he started playing the mandolin this year.... I put a mandolin on them.  The design is a bit heavy for fleece, and his mandolin is actually a slightly different shape, but I did match the colors to his mandolin exactly, which was fun. And this, is the first project I made with my new yarn--I think the day after the yarn arrived.  I love to work with lace weight, but one does have to appreciate how fast bulky yarn can be knit up.  It's not exactly this vivid of a color, and it reports being happy in its new home--especially since there's a coat that matches it nicely. Now, on to those 2012 presents!!!!

Season's Greetings from Château Sutton-Goar! In case--after the year of the cat in a cast, the year of the broken toe, the year of bronchitis, or the year of the pantry moths--you were beginning to think that the holiday season is a bit eventful here at the Château, I can only say, "Why break such a perfect record?" Thus we are enjoying the holidays here during the Year of the Injured Back.. And let me just say, being rescued from the floor of the bathroom clad in crossword puzzle pajamas by eight paramedics really kicks off the holidays nicely. Since they brought along the ambulance AND the firetruck, it actually was a lot like our own personal Macy's parade. What could be more "holiday" than that? We are happy to report that the patient and her dignity are recovering nicely. Square Foot Gardening This year we decided to try the square-foot gardening method instead of whatever one would call my regular "shove plants in anywhere...

Even in my fantasy knitting world, having just discovered an additional 1375 yards of yarn, it didn't seem likely that I could knit up an additional 1375 yards by the end of the year to even things out, but I could knit up an additional skein of yarn, so.... Actually, this Mock Men's Aran hat used just about 130 yards, so I'm scaring myself with the mental discussion that if I could already have knit up one-tenth the amount of yarn I found, am I positive I couldn't knit up maybe half?  Two-thirds?  The entire stupid amount?  I am nothing if not stupidly optimistic.  So, meet the new scarf.  It's on size 8 needles, fairly simple design, and in some of the new mohair yarn.  If I get it done by perhaps the 27th, that will be another 245 yards, then I would only need 1000 yards in the last 4 days of the year to reach 1375, which seems completely reasonable to me as I'm currently on my third cup of coffee this morning.  What could possibly go wron...

So, I had the brilliant idea to get the rest of my yarn photographed so everything would have pictures.  None of the first laceweight yarn I bought had been photographed, so a little rummaging turned up this so I took a picture, pulled up my stash on Ravelry, and.......... It wasn't on there! This 1375-yard hank of cobweb yarn wasn't in my stash!  I have MORE yarn than I thought, and I'm not altogether positive there isn't another hank of this color somewhere.  I actually really like this yarn, and my very first shawl was made from this exact yarn, but my stash added 1375 yards and I didn't get the fun of buying anything!!!   Dang!  Maybe cleaning the sewing room isn't such a great idea after all........

Some days I just defeat myself with my own optimism.  For the last THREE days I have been waiting to update the blog because I was just positive that this was going to really be finished any minute, and then I could brag about using up another ball of yarn for the year.  That fingering weight yarn and size ONE needles could still strike me as "almost done" shortly after turning the heel probably explains a great deal.  SO, three days later, I have now used up almost 15,000 yards of yarn this year, making it my second-best year ever with 10 days left to go. So, it of course made sense to find a really, REALLY large ball of yarn that I can't possibly knit up in 10 days, and start on a toddler sweater that also can't be finished in 10 days.  In my defense, there is a bit of a baby boom happening around us, and my newest "honorary" nephew has already outgrown the sweater I thought I would be giving him for Christmas, and will be receiving a 4-year-old ...

So, I figured out what to do about the mohair, decided how to adapt the monster hat to work with my yarn, and... am working on the socks instead.  Part of it has been because I had a bit of a setback with back/hip problem after Tuesday's physical therapy and I don't care how experienced you may be at knitting--if you're taking pain pills or muscle relaxers, stockinette is your friend.  I'm happy to say that I have been yanked back into position and now just ache rather than hurt.  This is progress.  Speaking of progress, want to see how the musical stockings look now that they're up and being filled? I love how it all turned out! Well, except for the part where the cool "washable" music ribbon I found to make the stocking loops with faded almost completely when the stockings were washed.   That part irritates me to no end.  But the overall effect is still nice.  And I have learned to not waste my money on printed ribbon ever again, so there i...

The yarn that matches beads I already have, gets to be beaded scarves.  Those that don't get to be hats.  See how easy decisions are when one has spent their allowance on yarn? I wish I had some brilliant amount of knitting to show off, but I do not.  Yesterday I wrapped gifts and even got a few sent off.  I'm still not entirely off pain medication--but generally down to one Aleve every 24 hours, instead of 4--but I'm slow and I get worn out pretty fast, and I think I was asleep by 9:00 last night.  So, not much knitting.  BUT, there have been two new ideas: 1.  Get the remainder of my stash photographed for Ravelry.  I think it's all on there, but there is a lot of yarn that didn't have photographs, and it's really easy to not pay attention to those yarns.  So, every time I'm ready to add photos to the blog, I go photograph a few missing yarns.  Interestingly, one of my friends on Ravelry wanted to know if I had robbed a yarn stor...

So, the big monster beret was supposed to look like this , or rather "sort of" as I'm using a totally different yarn because no matter how tempting the idea of angora was, I just couldn't see giving everyone hats in baby pink or baby blue.  With a slight bit of editing, I think I can make the pattern work with the mohair, or I could make mohair scarves.  Idahoans don't wear hats as often as they do on the east coast, I think, as we really don't walk anywhere in the winter.  Maybe one more hat and then some scarves? Do you guys get more use out of hats or scarves?  And, I'm thinking of adding beads to the scarves, which I don't think I can do to the hats.

The mohair hat ended up, well.... really freakin' huge.  And did I check gauge?  Of course not, because I am a slow, slow learner.  It still works as a hat, but it's now a beret rather than the tam I was hoping for.  As it's mohair, it's easier to change expectations than change the hat, but I think in future hats, I will be casting on far fewer stitches for the band.  My back continues to improve, though instead of leaving Friday's physical therapy session full of spunk and energy like I did on Monday, I was so exhausted that I actually came home and fell asleep--then slept another 10 hours that night, and might have made it to 12 if Theo had thought that appropriate.  I have been resting a lot this weekend, which has resulted in the long-promised new sweater finally being cast on and currently resembles some sort of purple ramen-noodley mess that will hopefully be straightened out with some very severe blocking, and because I seem to love frustrat...

The new bribery plan:  I only get to play with the new yarn if I behave myself and don't "overdo" The GOOD news is:  I feel a lot better after only one physical therapy session The BAD news is:  Being me, and having been severely restricted in movement for over two weeks now......well, it was probably just a foregone conclusion that I would be a complete idiot at the first sign of recovery.  I'm probably lucky I didn't do anything completely insane, like cartwheels through the house. I don't think I did anything that would involve a set-back or the need to take those darn Valium pills, but I will be resting for a while and behaving myself for the rest of the day.  And if I DO behave myself, I get to play with this: This is one of the new gift hats I ordered yarn for.  I'm thinking that I might end up getting two hats per ball instead of one...which means I have a LOT more knitting ahead of me than I thought.  I'm enjoying it, though you can t...

Meet finished project number 111: which is what ALL the fashionable oatmeal containers are wearing this season.  What about project 110, you ask?  Shhhh--it's a secret.  It is Christmas, after all. I have finished 111 projects!!!! I am not yet willing to concede that there is anything good about throwing one's back out, but I will admit that it gives one lots of knitting time.  And speaking of, guess what arrived yesterday? And the timing couldn't have been better.  Between the pain, the pain pills and all their side effects, Thursday's set-back, and the fact that I can never accept that things don't just heal quickly because I want them to, I have been a bit low the last couple days.  Being able to bribe myself with new yarn is helping--especially since it will be a while before I'll be able to sit enough to sew again.  I'm sure I'll be much more cheerful Monday evening once I've been to physical therapy and have learned what I can do to...

This has been my view much of the last 2 weeks: Theo has been quite a good get-well kitty, though I think he's a bit relieved to see me making enough progress that he feels he can leave my side--or my chest--for a while.   And I'm quite relieved that Andy headed him off with the live mouse get-well gift he found the other day.  Kitty nursing has a few drawbacks. I had a bit of a set back yesterday so there were pain pills AND valium (though not at the same time, obviously), but after they wore off a bit I was able to finish project number 109: and of course, I have immediately cast on another project.  This will be a new hat with a doubled-over band, which explains the teal yarn used as waste yarn.  I'm almost there!  And some pictures of past projects that haven't been on here yet.  The latest chemo cap: and the red hat: It's really a pretty cute hat, especially for a free pattern .  I saw the spine specialist yesterday, a...

Seriously, this just makes my day!  In other exciting news, I have finished the red hat and I think I know where I left my camera, so will share soon.  THREE more projects to go for the year!!! And--now this is big--I have been able to function for the last 24 hours on just Aleve--no scary pain meds.  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I can now knit something besides stockinette!!!!

Thanks everyone!  I am happy to report that I can mostly function with just the over-the-counter pain medication the doctor recommended (Aleve, I believe is the non-generic name--I can't pronounce the actual name on the label), though if I'm moving around much I have to resort to the stronger pain killers, which make it hard to read, type, or do much of anything EXCEPT move around, but this is huge progress!  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously, earlier this week even with the pain pills AND resting it still hurt, so this is big. I have finished the first plain-Jane sock, and am on to the second one, and I have started a hat for my more lucid moments.  I have been SO tempted to cast on a new sweater for Andy since he's been such a champ taking care of me this week, but I thought if I attempted to figure out gauge right now, the sweater would either be large enough for Andy and three of his closest friends OR just the right size to fit Theo.   So, I'll stick with the s...

There has been knitting, but mostly very, very simple knitting.  The pain pills I'm on make me drowsy AND hurt my stomach, if I try to not take them the pain makes me dizzy and faint if it gets too bad, and when the muscles start having spasms (which usually happens when trying to stay off the pain pills), then I have to take the Valium, which makes me absolutely stupid.  I had been able to get away with just taking an over the counter pain med they suggested at night since it lasts 12 hours, but last night it failed me and I woke up in serious pain TWICE and once had to wake Andy to help me.  So........I'm having a relatively rotten week.  Poor Theo is just beside himself.  He leaves my side for about 2 hours a day, and it seems that sleeping on my chest is his version of nursing.  Considering everything I went through on Monday, I like his version much better even if it might not be very effective. So, I had originally decided to not do a "reward" yarn ...

*  Wake up at 7:00 after a long Nyquil-induced night which you hoped would relieve the back pain from having thrown your back out the day before. *  Make your way to the bathroom, only to realize you are about to pass out. *  With as much grace and speed as one can muster with a sore back, get down to the floor before actually passing out. *  Realize now that you're on the floor, you can't get back up *  Have husband hand you 3 Advil tablets to see if you can numb the pain enough to get off the floor, which you now wish you had swept over the weekend. *  After a while and repeated examinations by both cats, realize it's rather hopeless.  Consider spending the entire day on the floor.  Wish part of the bathroom was carpeted. *  Admit defeat and allow husband to call for paramedics. *  Give the neighbors plenty to talk about as both an ambulance AND a fire truck pull up outside your house. *  Surrender any last...

Seriously, now that I'm this close to hitting my goal for the year, ever time I log onto my blog to update it, the theme from Rocky keeps running through my head.  Not that it's a bad song, but then it's stuck in my head the rest of the day, and by the third hour of the darn thing I start to get a bit cranky.  However, it DOES make me want to knit faster, so I guess in some way it's helping.  The chemo cap is done ( da da DAAAAAAAAAA, da da daaaaaaaaa), so I just need FIVE more projects ( da da DAAAAAAAAAA, da da daaaaaaaaaaaa) to hit my goal for the year.  ( da da da da da DAAA, da da da da da DAAAA da da...) THEN I hope to work on something-- anything --big and without a darn theme song..... da da DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, da da daaaaaaaaaaa........

As I get closer and closer to 111, I'm fantasizing more and more about quilts and sweaters and big lace shawls.  After 2 years of mostly small projects, I am really ready for some bigger projects. Yesterday I started the day by finishing up the new set of mitten ornaments: then cranked up Jeeves for a couple more towels, partly because it's a fast way to get a finished project, but mostly because I am totally in love with this design.  I bought several musical embroidery designs from Embroidery Library ,  so then it was just a matter of finding a quote to go with it.  I've always loved this one from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, even if it is uttered by Orsinio, whom I have always considered to be one of Shakespeare's biggest drips.  Still, it makes a nice towel AND finished project number 105. For project 106 I thought it might make a nice change to make something that isn't "one of two," so I'm making another chemo cap.  I've alm...

With only 8 projects left to finish to meet my goal, I'm actually a bit ahead, but today I am still a bit freaked out.  Only 44 days left in the year--YIKES!  For a few days last month, I was knitting a little mitten ornament every morning over coffee, which was fun but it got derailed when I decided to knit the Christmas stockings for my friends.  But now that the stockings are both done AND delivered, I thought it would be a good time to revive "Mitten Mornings," though this poor little guy has been in progress for two days now.  In my defense, yesterday (thanks to Theo) I was up at 5:00 and making breakfast and canning and cleaning and vacuuming and doing laundry--so  I wasn't really slacking.  I have also started a birthday present for next year, as so many of the Christmas basket stash-dash projects are coming out of the basket as gifts almost as fast as they go in, so these babies are for a February birthday and can stay in the darn basket f...

Normally, I've counted small things like ornaments as 1/2 a project, but for this one there won't be a second, so meet finished object number 103: It's cute enough, but as you can see from the grid, it's too big for a Christmas ornament and too small for anything else..........and I might be just a bit soured on it as the pattern called for grafting on both the toe AND the heel after suffering through colorwork on DPNs which is always a bit of a challenge if you don't want any tension problems.  The pattern calls for some duplicate stitch red berries on the holly leaves which I may or may not get to.  I think just for the sheer "crankiness" factor, this gets to count as an entire project. 8 more to go!!!!

With the help of Jeeves, I have now completed 4 towels with this design: though the first two were made with the weird plastic-type water-soluble stabilizer which never really works and are now "keepers" as one has a hole and knot where the "s" should be, and one has it where the "b" should be. Yep, it did actually take me two towels to remember not to use the stuff.  In my defense, I didn't have Jeeves for the majority of an entire year, and apparently have to relearn just about everything about embroidery.  Or I'm just an idiot.  Or a combination of both.  The November Project of the Month bag contained enough yarn for a third washcloth, and by finishing this one this morning I can now count them as a finished object, so I am down to 9 projects left to finish for the year.  I started a little mini stocking ornament,  and will probably try for another set of towels today.  With all these little projects, I am of course just dying to ...

I finished another towel last night, and am hoping to finish up a set of wash cloths today, so I'm now at 100 and closing in on 101..................but there are some stupid red tomatoes that will need my attention shortly.  Darn real life chores--they keep interfering with my crafting. Thinking more about the "Twelve twelves" idea in 2012, my current list idea: 1.  12 sweaters and/or shawls 2.  12 finished sewn apparel items 3.  12 decorations 4.  12 Christmas ornaments 5.  12 hats 6.  12 bags 7.  12 pen sleeves 8.  12 washcloths 9.  12 embroidered towels 10. 12 placemats 11. 12 WIPS (any craft) 12. 12 gifts Of course, with 6 weeks left in the year, this list might change as well, but I am already excited about knitting sweaters after two years of little items.  I think if I have a few fairly loose categories--gifts, wips, decorations, I won't feel too limited for the year.  And I think I could finish up the ...

The new Christmas stockings are DONE! And there is a finished towel that needs to be removed from Jeeves, and if I can get a second one done before having to call it a night, I could have project 100 done today as well! 111 projects might not be so insane after all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 They're done!!!!!! And fortunately the picture doesn't show that all the white of the "Allan" stocking except the very last 2 rows are a tiny bit more of an off-white than the other stocking or stripe that one can see in natural light on the bottom of the stocking.  DANG!  If I had the remotest idea what the yarn dye lot was or if this weren't a discontinued yarn I would have fixed the bottom rows, but as it stands, I would have to knit the entire stocking over which I'm not sure I have enough yarn for.......so I'm just going to hope that my friends are very forgiving or can't distinguish shades of white.  Rats. And the first Project of the Month washcloth is done: and since I'm counting 2 as a finished project, I'm halfway to having project 98 done.  Then I think I need to think about a few hats or caps to pad out my project numbers.  54 days isn't very many...................

Today has only been half a Finishing Friday, as my morning was taken up with canning (again!), but I have managed to finish one ornament that I'm happy with  finished the one I'm not overly thrilled with, but which can hang on the back of the tree,  and made one that counts as a whole Finished Object by itself because it was such a blasted pain in the neck: It's less in a state of "finished" than "in the Ornament Protection Program for its own safety."  I think I will be spending the evening with something less irritating.......which could be anything really..

So, today on Ravelry there was a discussion in the Stashdown group about what challenges we're going to have next year, and one of our REALLY optimistic members suggested finishing 12 12s in 2012.  I should not encounter such wild ideas while having morning coffee, because after having convinced myself that 12 sweaters would be totally doable, it isn't too much of a stretch for me to make it exponentially harder.  Just in theory (sort of), what if I did: 1.  12 sweaters 2.  12 Christmas ornaments 3.  12 embroidered towels 4.  12 hats 5.  12 place mats 6.  12 gift bags 7.  12 pen sleeves 8.  12 washcloths 9.  12 sewing WIPS 10. 12 chair covers/decorations 11. 12 coasters 12. One more category....sewing would be a good idea, or maybe 12 scarves, some of which could be sewing? Too crazy?  By which I of course mean, too crazy for ME even?

There are 59 days left in the year. The holiday season is coming. Canning season is still going. I need to finish 17 more projects by the end of the year.  Okay, now might be the time to start panicking........... 

And time for a new Project of the Month bag: Cotton washcloths!  That works out nicely, because it fits in with the Christmas basket stashdash AND the fact that there are 60 days left in the year and 17 projects to go, and I am starting to freak out just a bit.  So, the new washcloth is already cast on: and I'm thinking I can get two washcloths and a tribble out of this, so that would be 1 1/2 projects, leaving me with 15 and a half to go.  Still "yikes." The Christmas stockings are moving along, but I thought I was about to have a major issue on the second heel flap:  I ran out of red yarn.  I'm moving about more, but I still can't really sit, so I was contemplating how to send Andy around town looking for a yarn that I knew the make of but not the colorway, and decided to simplify things by looking on the internet....................only to find the darn stuff (Bernat Berella) has been discontinued.  Who discontinues acrylic afghan yarn?????...