A Little Yarn On The Side

I don't know why Blogger won't let me respond to all comments, but it doesn't, so thank you to everyone for the anniversary wishes.  I can't believe it's already been five years.  It has just FLOWN by! Speaking of flying by--it's Monday already, and I still have no pictures to put up.  BUT, there has been knitting and in fact, I'm closing in on finishing the second sock.  I've never really had problems with Second Sock Syndrome, thankfully.  Once I get one sock done I'm in a real rush to get the second sock done to make it a Finished Object, so it may go faster than the first one.  Of course, nothing is going fast right now because of the gardening/canning/entertaining happening around here, but fall is in the air.............:)

Today is our fifth wedding anniversary, and we're having a party tomorrow to celebrate, so Finishing Friday has temporarily been put on hold in favor of "Clean Up The House" day--a trend which I really don't see being repeated.  I've actually been cleaning and straightening and putting up fall decorations all week, but Canning Season is upon us, so it has really BEEN a whole week's project.  BUT I am happy to report that there is a finished sock, and if the computer, camera, sock, and I ever get our act together, there will be a picture.  And hopefully some serious progress on the second sock.................

So, I mentioned that I was thinking  about attempting 12 sweaters in 12 months for 2012.  If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you might have noticed that it's a surprisingly short leap from "thinking about insane behavior" to "behaving insanely."  Maybe more of a small hop, really.  12 sweaters in 12 months is crazy, completely idiotic, and likely to have me whining about project monogamy/monotony by mid-February.  Andy yet.............I'm still going to do it. My one real saving grace is that even I  am willing to make it 12 sweaters or shawls, so the long-languishing dem fischer sin fru would count,  as would the current Pi shawl .  They're both mostly done, so I'm thinking the 12-in-12 challenge might be a good way to bribe myself to get them finished.  Then there's the Kauni cardigan , which is fabulous but slow, and which has pretty much been neglected because even "fabulous" sweaters in fingering yarn...

Yesterday was my birthday, and I decided to celebrate by casting on a new sweater for myself.  Being down to a svelte 15  WIPs, I felt I could splurge a bit. I have been lusting after Alice Starmore patterns for years, and last year's reward yarn splurge included yarn for one of her sweaters, so I dug out my yarn and book and settled down to do a swatch --not something I am normally smart enough to do, but when a pattern calls for size 2 needles, I thought it best to check.  And, as luck would have it, my 4-inch swatch was easily 4 and a half inches, so I need to go down a needle size, which means I would need a size ONE circular needle.  I don't own a size one circular needle, as I have always maintained that any knitting that would require a size one circular is behavior that should not be encouraged.  I almost  made a trip to the store yesterday, but rational thinking (and the desire to stay in PJs just a bit longer) prevailed, and I decided to look f...

No matter how many rows I do or how I knit, the ball of yarn remains about the same size and the scarf is about the same length.  It's been about half done for a week or two and apparently is going to be about half done for the rest of my life.  Or longer........................

So.....today I've been flirting with the idea of attempting to make 12 sweaters in 12 months.  Since it will BE 2012, it seem really fitting and appropriate........... ............and a bit insane.  Talk me down, anyone?

My crafting weekend moved the 111 projects goal much, MUCH closer, so let's just say for argument's sake that I hit my target for this year.  What then?  I like having a goal for finishing projects because otherwise I start a bunch of projects and may or may not finish them (anyone remember the 45 WIPs?).  However, I'm not sure that even I  want to attempt 112 finished projects.  111 is a pretty daunting number already, and I'd like to work on some bigger projects next year.  But I'm also worried that I won't take myself very seriously if I drop back to finishing 50 projects in a year, and the sewing room is still overflowing so finishing a healthy number of projects will definitely help declutter.  Maybe set a goal to finish 50 sewing projects and 20 knitting?  Set a poundage goal to be used up?  Keep doing the basket challenges but include fabric?  Revive the Project of the Month bags and perhaps do 2 of them--one knitting, one sewing?...

I was actually able to finish a Mardi Gras themed Christmas tree skirt finished today--though not so much able to get it photographed without Theo.  It's a gift that I've been planning to do for about 3 months, so I seem to have stayed on the time frame I adopted with Andy's birthday sweater.  I have another gift that is now 2 months behind schedule, so I guess that should be my next project............ I did manage to get two more tribbles done mostly because Theo isn't interested in them.  I think these would be really cute as a gift with some bath salts or bubble bath.  They're also pretty quick to make, which is also very nice, although........... they're not filling up my stash-dash basket very quickly.  The tree skirt would take up a nice chunk of space....but unfortunately it will be packed up and mailed off next week.  Oops.  I think I'm seeing an inherent problem in trying to fill a basket with gifts when one is making gifts that are month...

When one has a burning desire to cast on a new sweater, it's a good time to revisit the WIP pile.  This, has been waiting for seams and buttons for 4 months, which made it the easiest one to complete. I'd like to say that I then moved on to other WIPs, but...... I then moved on to quick and fast projects to start filling up my Christmas "basket."  which is going to take some effort.  A few more dishcloths and the bottom will no longer be visible, at least. While I've been knitting, I've had Jeeves making ornaments: They're free-standing lace being done on wash-away stabilizer.  When they're soaked in water, the stabilizer (which is just starch) will wash away and make them very stiff.  Perfect for ornaments.  At least, I hope so...... I'm counting 6 of these as one finished "project" as they take some effort on my part, but not too much.  They're small so I can do 3 of them inside one hoop, so that makes them go pretty quickl...

August 1, I started with this: At the end of the "dead heat" stashdash, I am left with a bit of yarn I didn't get to, some remnants from finished projects, and two projects not actually finished: which is probably farther than I really thought I would get in just two months.  I haven't had a chance to figure out my yardage yet, as I've been busy rounding up this for our next challenge.  Starting today and running until the end of the year, instead of emptying a basket of yarn, the idea is to fill a basket with finished projects.  Lots of people have cute little baskets to use for this challenge, but I need 44 projects by the end of the year, so I scrounged in the garage for the biggest "basket" I could find.  Since I have 4 whole months, a wee part of me was sorry I couldn't find the big box our chest freezer came in.  But I suppose this one will have to do.  I am kicking off this challenge with a crafting weekend.  That's right--for the...