A Little Yarn On The Side

Sleeves seem like such small things--you don't cast on many stitches, and only add more stitches gradually, so occasionally an unwary knitter is foolishly sucked into believing that she could finish a sleeve in one day. That, however, is not really the case. Today I have spent WAY more time than I care to admit working on the first sleeve, and I'm not even at the half-way mark. All that knitting completely wore Theo out, so I was able to get some cat-free shots of the Fir Cone shawl now that it is blocked. It's not quite square, and no matter how I pinned it, the edging doesn't lay completely flat--it would probably have been good to skip a few stitches on each side. But, it's still a lovely shawl that will look fine when it's worn. A few close-ups for detail: And now I'm going to go do something--anything--as long as it doesn't involve sleeves!

Early this morning, my trusty sidekick and I washed the finished Fir Cone shawl, with Theo stopping briefly to smell some flowers I received for my birthday a couple weeks ago, though he was on-hand to make sure there were no washing disasters, as this wool does felt if you stare at it too hard. And voila! Finished WIP # 9 in a row!!!! YAY!!!!!! Andy's sweater might get a little quality time this week after all.....

I am this: close to being done with WIP #9!!!!! AND, I'm still loving the pattern--Fir Cone by Cheryl Oberle. Love it, love it, love it! For a little bit, I thought I might be creating a blanket, but folded in half, it will make a reasonable shawl. For those of you who remember that September was going to be Knitting For Men Month....I still have 7 days left and I believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and knitting miracles--probably in that order.

I have almost finished the third side of the edging and might even have WIP number 9 done by next week! Did I mention I'm trying to get to 20?

I just rounded the second corner!!!!! OK, that might need some explanation. On the Fir Cone edging, I started right after the last corner, so finishing the second corner means I have finished half the edging already. Whoo hoo! And the corner was at the top of the picture when I uploaded the picture--I guess Blogger is having some issues tonight. But you get the idea. Now you can sort of see the first corner and Abby is right--it would make a great tablecloth. Actually, it would be pretty easy as the center square was done first. Just converting that into a rectangle would probably turn it into a nice size for a table cloth. I wouldn't do it with this one as it's 100% wool and would felt like a champ, but in an ivory cotton? Hm........ Theo refused to knit with me tonight--apparently it was a "male bonding" night: At least it wasn't beer and football.....

Tonight I've finally had some time to knit, so with Theo holding my place in the pattern book, I have almost reached the halfway point on the Fir Cone edging. Theo has been quite miffed since Calisto was featured on the blog and he wasn't, so this is actually the first time he has joined me in the sewing room in about a week. I think the publicity has gone to his head.

The first WIP Contest bag is finished and ready to be mailed tomorrow: Janet has also reached 10, and her bag is cut out but not yet embroidered. Still, I'm progressing! The Fir Cone shawl got most of the attention this weekend, and I have turned the first corner: I don't know if it's the slightly heavier yarn--or just the fact that there is so much less edging than there was on the Lady's Circular Cape--but this one is just flying along. Or it could simply be--child that I am--that it is not the project I am supposed to be working on, which of course makes it ten times more interesting than it would otherwise be. I am on to this immature streak in my character, and have designated vacuuming as quite off limits in hopes of inspiring myself. It's been 5 days so far, and as of yet I haven't felt even the slightest desire to clean, but I'm still hopeful...

I have wool, an audio book, and we had pizza. Does it get any better? I've almost done one full side of the Fir Cone Shawl's edging: It's actually square with 4 straight sides--not curved--but it's really hard to photograph without taking it off the needles, and I think that's just tempting the knitting fates unnecessarily. Could WIP number 9 actually be finished in just a few days???

OK, Andy's Christmas sweater is about 40% done, and I really, really have been mostly faithful, but the Fir Cone Shawl has lately been my Stop Light Knitting--since I can't cast on a sock or anything that would be more sensible--and tonight it just needed two more rows before I could start the edging, so.... I admit that after the mohair-knitting-abyss that was the edging for the Lady's Circular Cape, I was a bit hesitant about doing ANYTHING that involved edging, but the number of rows needed for the edging around the entire Fir Cone Shawl is about 60% of just the rows of edging needed for the bottom of the Lady's Circular Cape. That I think I can get through. At any rate, it feels like something new to work on, and that little green stripe of yarn was actually CAST ON, so maybe I can pretend like it's a new project entirely....? Or maybe rows & rows of edging will drive me--screaming and tearing my hair out--back to that black sweater..... P.S. To answe...

Needing a little motivation, I was just skimming the spreadsheet of what projects I've finished for the year and how much fabric & yarn I have used up and I noticed the Fir Cone Shawl still only listed 2 hanks instead of 3. (I'm now actually almost halfway through the 4th). So I got to add 440 yards to my total without even touching knitting yet today! Whoo hoo!!!!

Last night, in the sheer ecstasy of having new yarn, I pulled out the shawl, sat down with the new yarn and I honestly forgot it would need to be wound. Obviously the shock of A.) being able to buy anything at all after the 90-day spending ban and B.) getting to buy yarn at ALL addled my brain entirely. Good thing it wasn't a 6-month spending ban. I'd be a talking monkey by now. So tonight I came home and wound the new yarn (the thrill does have to last me another 4 months, remember) and ended up back with Andy's sweater because that little ball of yarn on the side is almost used up and might even be able to be added to the tally tonight. Entering the 9th month of The Year of the Stash, that little tally is the only thing keeping me going at this point--especially since there really is no visible dent in the stash. Maybe a dimple, but definitely no dent. Back to that ball!!!!!

I. GOT. YARN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with destiny wool.

While not mentioning any names, there has recently been a little smugness on this blog--using up stash (perhaps a tiny victory dance at passing 13,000 yards--but just a teeny, tiny one), finishing WIPs, finishing a birthday present early. This sort of behavior is rarely tolerated by the Knitting Fates and today was their day to smite me the offending knitter. * I started to finish WIP number 8--the very late birthday poncho--only to discover I am out of yarn for that project as well. It wasn't discovered until I--I mean "The Knitter"--was already in pajamas for the evening and not about to venture out again. * I picked up two tubes of beads to finish Fleur. Unfortunately, they are the wrong color. When I went back to Craft Warehouse to get the right color, they didn't have them. I--I mean "she"--will try again next week. * The yarn to finish Fir Cone is en route , but only in Denver as of tonight. The Denver US Postal Facility is the only place I...

The good news is, I didn't cast on anything new. The bad news is, I didn't work on my Ravelympics entries. The back of a toddler sweater was really close to using up a ball of yarn (I am so pathetic sometimes), so I worked on it until I finished ball 78 for the year then promptly abandoned it for Fir Cone, which also finished up a skein of yarn--bringing me to 79 balls and 12,662 yards used from the stash for the year. I would LOVE to keep going on Fir Cone--it's a scratchy wool & really hot and just the sort of thing I am generally dumb enough to fall in love with in August--but that ball of yarn was the last one I had, so until the new yarn arrives, it is on hold. The good news is that the 90-day spending ba n is finally over, and I have already ordered the yarn. I decided for purposes of the Year of the Stash project, if I started a project in good faith and subsequently ran out of yarn, I could buy the yarn needed to finish the project provided I kept working ...

Late last night I was awarded a gold medal by Bobicus Maximus for my first Ravelympics WIP which is my 7th WIP in a row. Yay!!! Tonight I've spent some time with my second entry, then rewarded myself with a little lace: And the cheering section is waving me on!

I keep trying to count my remaining WIPs, and keep coming up with a different number. After the Finish-itis contest, we will be embarking on a "learn to count" campaign. So, let's see if I can list them: 1. Magikal Earth Shawl (photo to come when the camera battery is recharged) - more than halfway through the mind-numbing edging (what is it with edging?????) 2. Plum baby aran: front in progress: 3. Poodle mohair: body done to sleeeve join, one sleeve in progress 4. Blue toddler sweater - back not quite done. Nothing else finished 5. dem fischer sin fru - still not quite halfway through the first clue. Out of 6. 6. Fleur - just missing the edging and the right front 7. Toddler sweater: needs seams, edging, and one piece knit 8. sleeveless sweater - back mostly done 9. Alpaca cardigan: back, one side, and most of the second side done 10. Glitterspun sweater - back finished, front half finished 11. Pi chemo cap - no picture yet. 12. Fir cone shawl - 40% d...