A Little Yarn On The Side

Okay--I'm delusional most of the time, but even I'm thinking I won't finish four sweaters, 6 placemats, 6 WIPs, or 9 clothing items before Tuesday, but I have finished one last "12!" I have done SO little sewing this year that it felt good to cut out, embroider, and finish a project--even if it was as simple as a few gift bags.  I finished something and there's a bit less fabric in the sewing room.  That feels good.  Shocking, of course, but good.  Now if I can just sew a great deal, knit a great deal, and buy absolutely nothing, next year the sewing room could even look good enough for some pictures...........

 So, the year of the 12 12s is ending, and there's no way I'm going to make all 12.  There is, however,  a slight chance that I could knock off at least one more "12."  These 2 brought me to 6 bags for the year, and I have 5 more red felt bags in progress,  which would frustratingly bring me to 11 bags.  Luckily, I found this: which is a box full of half-finished bags, most of which are waiting for handles.  So if I can locate the white felt, make some handles, I think I can get there.  Of course, what I am dying to do is to get cracking on the 365 ornaments, especially after Andy gave me this for Christmas: 13 ornament designs for my embroidery machine.  The cool colors you see are from doing appliqué with the designs, which I haven't done before but the instructions seem pretty thorough, so you can guess what I'll be doing on January 1! I also started a new baby sweater,  to have a small, non-complicated project to ...

The Stashdown group on Ravelry is having a virtual "Black Sheep" retreat this week in honor of the holidays and going NOWHERE near a mall for the holiday weekend, and without officially signing up, I have pretty much been participating, thanks to a cold.  Yep, missed Thanksgiving for the second year in a row, but at least this year Andy got to join our friends for the festivities, so we're making progress.  And sleeping most of Thanksgiving Day really did help, as I now have only a slight cough and intermittent sore throat, and I think the nausea level has moved back to the general "I'm-taking-pain-pills" level, versus the "Get-out-of-my-way-if-you-know-what's-good-for-you" level, and never did get to the "please-just-let-me-die" levels of the new muscle relaxers a few weeks ago, so REALLY there is progress.  And, a sock for next year's Christmas gift bag is in progress, the cowl neck sweater is gaining the cowl neck, which ...

Sweater number EIGHT is done: which also counts as WIP number 6 for the year, AND it counts for "Blue Christmas" as well as "What Child is This?" in the Holiday Music Stash dash.  Dang, that feels productive--which is sort of amazing since 11 months to finish a toddler sweater is anything BUT productive.  I know I've been busy, but when it takes longer to produce the baby sweater than the actual baby, something is wrong. 

Look!  A towel without holes!!!!!!!!!!!!  At first I did think that my card might be corrupted (again),because the design was leaving the stupidest number of "jump threads" possible: which are the threads you can see crisscrossing the design.  All those random threads were left by the machine "jumping" to another place to start doing the outline of the design.  It's been so long since I did this design that I didn't remember if it was like this to begin with, so I was worried until I pulled up the design in the software and discovered that, no, it really was just designed that badly.  Whew!  The cards are $200 IF one can find them, and my hip can't currently do a 4-hour round-trip drive to see the non-criminal Husqvarna dealer I finally found. And I am happy to report that there were no nightmares last night!  Thank heavens.  I can't decide what is freaking my subconscious out--a spending ban or buying more stuff.  Seemingly, it's bu...

With less than 2 months left to go in the year, I have 5 sweaters and 7 WIPs left before completing those "12s."  So... a toddler sweater I started last December is the new favorite project.  I have one sleeve and the back done up to the raglan shaping.  The pattern doesn't say to do so, but I'm putting everything on holders as soon as I do the initial decrease for arms and will knit the whole thing in the round for the rest of the sweater.  Why would anyone sew raglan sweaters together?  Besides the fact that I am just lazy, the shaping never looks as neat when I sew it as when I just knit the whole thing together. Since they're fast and the least-complex part of the sweater, I'm about to cast on the second sleeve, so then I'll be so close to being finished that I (hopefully) won't even hesitate to cast on for the front.   Childish?  Yes.  Effective?  Sometimes.  Besides, if I get this thing done, I can also count it for "Blue...

There has been knitting!!!!!! The green sweater is progressing, and I have just finished the THIRD ball of fingering-weight yarn for it.   I have not yet looked up how many balls of yarn I'll use (I did when I ordered it--thank heavens), because I think at this stage it would just depress me.  But I love this sweater!  The pattern is interesting but not difficult (yet), and I'm still just immensely proud of myself for finally starting this sweater.  I just hope the feeling lasts for the next year, so I can get it finally finished.  For knitting-while-reading, I have another sock:  the beaded scarf got several more rows:  and the new sweater has a front AND back, and I'm doing the sleeve shaping already.  It's another cowl neck sweater because 1. I love that sweater and wear it a lot, 2. It's fast and I'd like some instant gratification, and 3. the pattern I intended to make with this ribbon stuff was designed for ribbon stu...

Remember when I could just pump out embroidered towels like they were nothing?  Well, today was not one of those days.  Needing four more towels and enjoying a day that didn't involve the heating pad, I dug out several towels from my stash, and almost thought my spending ban was in trouble.  The "reader" that copies designs onto cards that can then be inserted into my embroidery machine wasn't reading the card.  As everything else I have from Husqvarna has had issues, I was worried that the reader had now reached the end of it's life cycle (because while accessories are wildly expensive, Husqvarna generally carries pathetic 90-day warranties on them).  Again and again I tried, rebooting my computer twice.  I finally pulled the card out, carefully wiped it off, blew gently into the reader, and turned it upside down in case I missed any lint, and that finally got it to work.  Notice that at no time did it occur to me to contact Husqvarna to ask for ...

Vacation is over, but it was wonderful.  For someone who doesn't always even sleep 8 hours, I slept so much the cats thought they'd finally converted me.  I had thought I'd be a crafting machine, but I really wasn't.  I did a lot of exercises for my hip/back, soaks in the hot tub, and just generally didn't bother about getting anything done.  For ME, that was huge.  Not that there aren't a few new things.  A new knitting project bag made from scrap material: which was intended to have pockets and a loop for running the yarn through, but became very simple when I realized how rusty I was at sewing.  One side of a buttonhole is actually 2 inches long, so obviously the buttonhole sensor foot and I need to spend a bit of time together.... There are some new Christmas ornaments: though the roses are (A) smaller than I thought they would be, and (B) without actual loops for hangers, but a little thread should take care of that.  I thought I mi...

So, I have finished my 12 washcloths for the year, but I am now working on number 13.  Why, you might ask--for the fun of it?  Because it's a new pattern?  Nope--it's to try to finish off that cone of yarn, which will give my tally an 800-yard boost in one shot.  There is also a wee bit of motivation to get my hands on that cardboard cone inside for some sort of Christmas tree decoration, but 99.9% of my reason is the yarn tally.  I am nuts.  Truly and certifiably.  But it IS 800 more yards.......which would really help right now, as my latest knitting obsession, is a shawl with blasted lace weight mohair yarn on size 4 needles and 540-yard balls of yarn.  A good idea for NONE of my goals for the year.  So, of course, I'm doing it.  At least I'm also embroidering some napkins: Two years ago I had embroidered  7 napkins to match our plates and some placemats I made several years ago: The original idea was, of course,...

Bob:  With less than one day remaining in the 2012 Ravellenic Games, we're seeing what may well be the final burst of activity from Ms. Sutton with another completed WIP: which I believe is a balaclava, though it does bear a striking resemblance to the "Yip-Yips" of Sesame Street fame as well . Ron:  It does indeed, Bob, and Ms. Sutton is known to be rather a fan of the Muppets, though in this reporter's view, a silk-blend yarn is less appropriate for a Yip-Yip than that problematic stash of Fun Fur Ms. Sutton likes to ignore.   Bob:  She does indeed, Ron, though I think by now most knitters have generally chosen to try to hide or ignore any possible experimentation with Fun Fur and novelty yarns.  Not a proud moment in any knitter's life to admit to possessing any yarn that looks like it was spun from the hair of a shaved toy monkey.  It's a bit like the macrame vests of the 1960s and 1970s--we know of their certain existence, but no one has eve...

Bob:  We're here at the first day of the 2012 Ravellenic games.  Ms. Sutton has shown an early burst of speed with an early medal in the Frogging Trampoline. Ron:  That's right, Bob.  Not only has she frogged with great speed and agility, the icky blue acrylic yarn has been tossed into a donation bin.  We haven't seen Ms. Sutton part with yarn willingly very often--if ever--and that was a surprising early move.   Bob:  It certainly was.  Considering the bin full of Red Heart acrylic yarn she insists is for ornaments and other crafting items--not to mention the stash of Fun Fur recently uncovered--it's surprising to learn there is any yarn so icky that Ms Sutton might part with it.   Ron:  Too true, Bob!  Perhaps the recent sewing room shelf project has truly created a sense of moderation in our competitor. Bob:  That seems unlikely, Ron, as Ms. Sutton was seen to be briefly browsing lace shawl patterns shortly before ...

Sweater number 4 and hat number 6 are done! That makes me still behind, but it is done BEFORE the birth of its destined owner, so still an improvement in my normal program. The Ravellenic games are coming in a couple weeks, and I'm going to try to finish a couple sweater WIPs during the games (which have nothing to do with any televised events of any sort), which will bring me closer to being on schedule, and maybe if there's a quick shrug in bulky yarn and big needles before the start, I could actually be on target for the 12 sweaters for the year.  OK, I didn't begin the year planning that 3 of the sweaters would be baby or toddler size, but I pride myself on my ability to disregard rules flexibility.  I didn't actually say they couldn't be baby-sized, though I'll admit that I do have enough pride to be unwilling to consider doll-sized.  One has one's limits........or at least until December............

Ahem.  The year is half over and my list of "twelve 12s" is not exactly at the half-finished point, but I have finally completed one: There are now fourteen completed pen sleeves.  I made them from some leftover micro suede, which works really well for these as it doesn't ravel.  Felt works well too, but it doesn't look quite as nice.  I still think I can get all 12 done--plus the bonus one--by December 31, but then again, I am known to be quite the delusional nutcase optimist.  Hey, it's the first one that's the hardest, right?

Bob and Ron have the weekend off, so I thought I'd do a quick update without them. I have had a weekend all by myself.  This was not actually the intention, as we had agreed to go on a 3-day camping trip with friends, but my back could neither handle the car ride there nor (most likely) any part of actually being there, so Andy went with our friends and I have had a resting/crafting weekend.  The fact that MY weekend involved indoor plumbing was an added bonus. I have 2 more mitten ornaments: a pair of fleece pants finished (which are in the washing machine which makes them difficult to photograph, but you can take my word for this one),the start of a Mr. Flurry snowman: a potential project for my "high jump" item:   which is a brioche stitch ha t.....that currently makes me want to drink heavily, but I'm hoping will improve once I get past the beginning whole-bunch-of-needles-and-few-stitches nightmare.  This is why I generally prefer hats that start wit...