A Little Yarn On The Side

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, 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..

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?????...

Thanks to--you guessed it--another set of mitten ornaments, I need only 19 more projects for the year.  I had thought about trying to make a mitten ornament every day until Christmas, but for right now that project has been put on hold to make a set of Christmas stockings for some friends.  There's a name on the flip side, but that would ruin the "surprise" part of the gift.  Originally I thought I might sew them, but I haven't knit stockings for anyone in years, and after some discussions with mutual friends, I decided to knit them instead.  I used to knit personalized Christmas stockings for close friends when they got married, but after going through a period of giving stockings that were never used, I sort of lost confidence in them.  It's sort of silly, really, as more of them have been happily used every year than the ones that weren't, but  it is really hard to know that you've spent hours on a gift that someone didn't like and doesn't app...

There's a garden with a very  long to-do list waiting for me after my 4-day vacation from it, but before I get to that, it's time for "What I Did With My Crafting Vacation:" As you might remember, I'm planning to do a music-themed Christmas this year, so I played around with an idea I had been toying with as a decoration: which aside from the slight puckering where I slip-stitched it shut turned out pretty well for a first attempt. I also got back to my mitten project, and am counting these five as a finished project: They're a bit addictive, really. Speaking of addictive, I am obsessed with these mittens!  Usually variegated yarns never end up looking as good on a project as I always hope they will, but this might finally be the answer.  I love how it looks with the cream stripe in-between.  Good thing I've already finished a lot of Christmas gifts for this year.  Otherwise I'd be embarking on a mad mitten-making rampage.  Of course, I might ...

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?...

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...

I just finished the Rosemary and Thyme scarf, which gives me 67 projects for the year.  In order to get to 111 projects by the end of the year, I should be averaging 9.25 projects each month, which would mean that I would be ending August with 74 projects--7 more than I have now.  Oops. Thursday kicks off the next Ravelry "stash dash" challenge:  FILLING a basket with finished objects between September 1 and December 31.  I think I'd better go find a REALLY big basket..................

It's August 17 and I have 49 projects to finish to meet my goal.  Which was starting to kick me into high "everyone-gets-Fun-Fur-scarves-for-Christmas" panic mode until I had the sense (obviously borrowed from somewhere) to check to see where I was last year at this time.  Last year on August 16 I needed 46 more projects, but needed only (I love that, "only") 100 projects last year, not 111.  SO, even with my current lack of interest in sewing, I am ahead of where I was last year.  And just because there's a real possibility that canning season will be MUCH more time consuming than last year is no reason to panic........... yet.............

While I really, really wanted to spend Finishing Friday working on the tapestry jacket or the new quilt, it occurred to me that doing strange projects like "Project of the Month" bags might be far easier and even less stressful if I stopped waiting until the very last minute to finish them. (Go figure).  So, most of Friday and the better part of today has been spent madly sewing, and ta-da!  A dress which is not overly well done, has huge problems where the trim and the zipper coincide, and won't be able to be worn for at least another 3 months without hypothermia.  But a Finished Project is a finished project.  I decided to go with the pink trim for the well-thought out reason that I simply couldn't find anything else.  I did have a little lavender ribbon-type yarn that matched better in color but it was too thin and I thought might look slightly anemic.   And I decided that even if the results weren't perfect, I've never sewn on trim before, so...