A Little Yarn On The Side

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...

I am down to 16 WIPS. For some, that might be overwhelming.  For me, having once been around the 40-WIP mark, this is almost knitting monogamy.  One project was actually started yesterday, so I was down to 15.  Without trying.  Remember when I worked for months just to get DOWN to 14?  Having these crazy finished project goals for the year might not be so crazy after all...........

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..................

This scarf was inspired by the wonderful smell of herbs in the summer (in spite of the fact that I can't seem to keep thyme alive).  It is worked with a seed stitch border at the bottom and on the sides to prevent rolling, which will be listed as "ss" in the pattern.  Stitch markers are highly encouraged This can be done with any yarn/needle combination.  For my scarf, I used a DK weight mohair blend with size 8 needles. Cast on 31 stitches. Work 4 rows of seeds stitch border as follows: Border row 1:  K1, [p1,k1] to end Border row 2:  slip stitch as if to knit, [p1, k1] to end Border row 3:  slip stitch as if to knit, [p1, k1] to end   On the last row , work 3 stitches as established, place marker (pm), work 5, pm, work 15, pm, work 5, pm, work remaining stitches NOTE: The number of stitches in the center panel will vary slightly as you work.  No need to panic, unless perhaps it has doubled in size--then feel free to panic slightly. ...

6 (okay, 6 1/2 counting today) days left in the "dead heat" stashdash, and my basket is not so much empty...........   Not so much even close.  All the fun fur is pretty much used up: for 3 niece scarves and one doll scarf. Two scarves are getting close to the half-way mark, (or already half-way if I only had some pygmy friends). 6 days--do I accept reality and try to get ONE of them done, or keep deluding myself that I could finish both of them even with the pesky  wonderful bounty from the garden to deal with?