I had February goals???

Yes, apparently I did! Although you'd never know it by looking at what I planned to work on and what I actually did work on!

What did I do in February?

Note: As of this writing, a lot/ most of the updated pictures I have, haven't been uploaded to Ravelry yet. I will be working on that over the weekend for many of them. I didn't want to delay this post any longer.
Checking my Rav project page, I have only two FOs to report: my Little Bit Irish Cardigan; and Derek's At-Home Slippers. I worked on my Felici socks while Derek and I were out together, but haven't made much overall progress on them. They are in my purse at all times, so I can always grab my sock and do a round or three when I have an idle moment. I am reconsidering the name I gave them however, "Nearly Instant Gratification" seems to be turning into "Slog Until You Die"!! I started my While Shrug just over a week ago, shortly after finishing my Little Bit Irish cardigan. I had done the swatching for Lissa's ruffled cardigan, but put it aside after getting gauge. I need to follow the pattern for that sweater, and a project like that just doesn't fit in right now. The shrug does because most of it is just stockinette, and it's perfect for something other than a sock when I need no-brain knitting. I started a new design for Ram Wools' Footwork Design contest prior to recieving my KP-IDP yarn Wednesday. I'm really liking how it's turning out, but there won't be project pages (or at least ones with pics other than just the yarn) until much later on this year.

I guess the worst thing about my February progress is that not a single stitch was done on a single afghan or shawl. I do have good afghan news though... The Monsterghan was finally delivered to the recipient, and I placed an order for the Popcorn MAM yarn. Gotta love a 29% off sale, it took care of the outrageous shipping and then some! Of course there's other goodies in there as well!

What will I do in March?

I can sum up that question in one word: SOCKS!! Socks are my biggest priority from now until the contest closing in mid-May. Anything else will simply be as a diversion, or to give my hands a rest from tiny needles. I have my first Footwork design started, and it seems to be going well. That pattern is going to need a lot of editing and clarification for sure... I'm using some new-to-me techniques, and loving every minute of it, but that makes for a few headaches when trying to explain what I'm doing! I have 3 or 4 more in the planning stages written into my notebook, and will be stopping in at Ram's when I'm in Winnipeg next week to source out a few more yarns. I also finally received my KP-IDP yarn support for another design, and while that project is also coming along, I'm having a lot of misgivings on how the colour is pooling. I'm going to get another full repeat or two done before I make my final evaluation on it though. My knitting callous is going to be taking a real beating from tiny needles!!!


Nicole =o)

January Round-up

Well, just how well did I do with my goals? Not too well it appears, but I did get quite a bit done regardless! This is what I had on January 1st as my knitting/ crocheting goals for the month of January:

Sweater: Tweed Cardigan (Mary Maxim kit); Shawl: finishing the Denise design; Afghan: finishing Derek's Popcorn MAM; Socks: finishing my Felici socks (Caprica colourway).

• The tweed cardigan isn't finished, but I did spend 2 weeks mostly concentrating on the popcorn afghan. As I had posted earlier, I recovered from having to rip back so much of my early work due to missed increases, but that was a loss of at least 2 days worth of knitting. I started work on it again the day before Derek returned, and got it divided a few days later. I went through well over a ball of yarn while he was home for the 5 days. I still have the sleeves to do, the stitches are on holders right now; and the body is about half done. I'm on the 4th ball of the 8 included in the kit, and Derek expects me to be wearing it when I pick him up from the airport next Wednesday. It's a fast, and mindless knit, so it is an achievable goal... it all depends on what else I decide to work on.
• I didn't touch the shawl at all =o( (no links since it's a design in progress)
• The popcorn MAM didn't get finished, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Firstly, it wasn't nearly as complete as I first thought. I had wanted to surprise Derek with it finished when he came home. I realized that I wouldn't be able to finish it in the 2 weeks that he was gone initially, as I needed approximately another week or so. I then discovered that I didn't have enough of the dark sage yarn to finish up the afghan. I checked my stash, and according to my Ravelry listings, I have NONE!!! It would be my guess that I had used a lot of it on his quiltghan back in 2002 or 2003... knowing then that I could easily buy more. Unfortunately 10+ years later, that is no longer the case. The colour is still being made, but nowhere I shop (or can get to) carries that colour. I will need to order more from Herrschnerrs, the only place online I could locate that colour. I had considered re-working it to become a "striped" afghan... using a different colour scheme for alternating strips... that way I could keep it a surprise still. The more I thought about it, the more I leaned towards letting Derek know, and letting him make the final decision on it. He decided that he wants it all to be in the sage colourways, so I'm ordering the additional yarn needed when I next get an email letting me know about a free shipping offer.
• The Felici socks were worked up to picking up the gusset stitches, and left at that point. As much as I love the socks, and love working with the yarn, my priorities dictated that I work on Raith's socks and other projects that were "needs" rather than "wants". They still went with me everywhere, but spent the majority of the month being shown off, rather than knitted on.

What got finished?

• Raith's socks. I finished the first sock on the 26th or 27th I think (checked my tweets for a guesstimate), and of course immediately cast on the second. That one was finished on Sunday (2-3 days), which seems to be quite typical of my second socks... what the first one takes in weeks, the second one is done in days!
• Derek's travelling slippers. Derek travelling means new slippers... this is a tradition born of necessity for over 10 years now. I wasn't up to making him slippers when he originally left in December, and as it turns out, it was a false start anyway. I had him pick out a ball of yarn from my "scraps" bin the day before he left and whipped them up in time for him to get them in his luggage before we went to bed that night. 

What's in progress?

• Derek's denim work socks. I cast these on right after finishing Raith's socks on Sunday. I've been meaning to get some more socks done for him, but haven't since I nearly killed my hands doing two pairs back-to-back for his b-day/ our anniversary in June last year. One of his pairs of socks is about to blow out, and I forced myself to buy 2 pairs worth of Tuffy when I was in Winnipeg dropping him off last week. When I got home and tried to put the yarn away in the bin Derek and I had bought for worsted wools, it wouldn't all fit! I did go out and buy another, larger bin, but at the same time I went hunting for the 2 hanks of Tuffy I had balled up back in the summer. As of this writing, I am FLYING through the first sock. I got the stripes done Sunday before bed, the leg done Monday, the heel flap/ turn done and gusset picked up before I went to knit night last night. For whatever reason, my fingers flew while I was there, and I'm now nearly at the toe. I fully expect to be grafting the toe tonight! It would be nice to have them waiting for Derek when he gets home next Wednesday.
• Raith's slippers. These were also started on Sunday. I have been facing my ever-growing queue, and am seeing the list loom over me like the Sword of Damocles. Derek wants to go into Winnipeg for the weekend later this month, so I need to have the entire order he placed from the fall complete by that time. This pair of slippers, and one more is all that is left. These slippers would have been sewn up last night, but yesterday morning I ran out of yarn a few rows away from the second tongue being finished. It was a "Maxwell Smart" moment... "I missed it by that much!" I knew the yarn was well over 6 years old, since it was wound into a regular ball of yarn and I've been doing centre-pull balls by hand for at least that long. I was guessing at what yarn it was when I created the Rav entry, but when I got to the end of the ball, I discovered that I had wrapped the ball around the yarn label. Thanks to having my stash so well documented on Ravelry, I was able to find out that not only did I have 2 full balls of this exact yarn in my stash (and in which bin), but one of them was the same date code of "No Dye Lot" yarn as what I had been using! (2002 by the way!) Rebecca waited over 6 hours, and didn't go get the ball for me until just before I left for knit night, so the tongue wasn't completed, and I couldn't sew them up there like I had originally planned.

What about my other goals?

• Releasing a pattern a month: I didn't get a pattern released... in fact I didn't really work on any designs this month at all. I did, however, submit an existing (but unreleased) pattern to the KP-IDP for consideration. I do have the Gumdrop Placemat Set dug out of the craft room, and here in the living room with me so that I will get the last of the samples finished, photographed, and can release the pattern.
• Continue listing everything on Ravelry: This is an on-going process. I have been very vigilant about making sure that each new purchase is listed in my Ravelry databases. I am also tracking yardage of how much I buy... in the hopes that I will use more than what I bring in this year. A small amount of stash from the "front room" was brought in for me to catalogue, but I haven't made a huge effort in that direction this month.
• Promoting myself more: I didn't do as much of this as I had intended to, but I still did more than what I have been doing. I have added a few more patterns to my Facebook page, I have registered at Craftsy (but haven't listed anything there yet), and have been tweeting a little more often. I have continued to be active on Ravelry, but not in a promotional sense. I am trying to make blogging and tweeting more of a habit... we shall see if I'm more regular with that in February than I was in January!
• Stash and craft room reorganization: This particular goal got little more than "a lick and a promise" this past month. I made small, baby steps in a few things, but most importantly, I didn't make any backwards steps. 

All in all, I have to say this was a pretty successful month as far as progress goes... just look at the yarn meters on the left column! No, I didn't achieve the goals I had set for myself, but I didn't give up either. I kept going, kept trying, kept making progress. Since last night was knit night, I will do my February goals post tomorrow. I will also need to do a progress/ FO photo post in the next couple of days. I have linked to my Ravelry project pages for those of you that are interested and taking a look at the details. I have them shared publicly, so you don't need a Ravelry account or to sign in to view them. 

Planning... and swatching... (fail to plan and you plan to fail)

I have discovered that I am a person that likes to report things "after the fact", rather than posting about what I plan to do. Yes, I like making plans and stating goals, but more in a longer-term sense, not a day-by-day "to do" list. Part of it is that it is easier for me to write in the evenings, after the house has quieted down a bit. The other part of it is that I know I rarely get done everything I plan to in any given day. I tend to "over-book" myself. The longer term goals are more realistic for me to complete on time... it's just how I seem to manage.

Yesterday is a typical example of my normal goals. It was Sunday, even though it really didn't feel like one, that means I'm supposed to be doing project finishing details. I ended up doing the opposite by starting a new project! I swatched for my "Tweed Cardigan" (link in yesterday's post), which I've named "A Little Bit Irish" in my Ravelry projects. My intent was to simply do the swatch, and then get on with other things I wanted to get done. As I half-expected, the needles called for in the pattern gave me a swatch that was off by one stitch width-wise, and dead-on for the row count. This is the same result I had when swatching for my cabled pullover (Gonna Try to Cable Pullover in my Ravelry projects. Unfortunately, in my enthusiasm for this project -- or was it haste to get on with something else? -- I decided to go *up* one size of needles for the next swatch, but I was trying for 17 stitches per 4 inches instead of the 16 stitches I got on my sample.

A quick lesson in gauge/ tension:

For those of you that are muggles (meaning non-knitters/crocheters), I will explain the importance of gauge for this project. Even my middle DD, who is a knitter and crocheter, looked at me puzzled when I said it was off by one stitch. It is only one stitch, how much difference can it make? A lot actually! The cardigan I am making has a finished chest measurement of 48 inches (~122cm). The gauge swatch is 4 inches (~10cm). A difference of just one stitch in the swatch means a difference of 16 stitches in the project. That means if I don't adjust my gauge, that I will end up with a sweater that's a full 4 inches larger than I want!

Needless to say, my 2nd swatching  attempt didn't match the stitch count I needed! Finally, by going down a size, I got the prescribed tension on my 3rd swatch. My row count is off slightly, but this patterns is written in such a way that the row gauge isn't as critical. I will be trying this cardigan on frequently while doing the shaping so I can add in extra rows when I need to. A good portion of (all? more than?) the time I wanted to spend knitting was spent on these swatches. After all that, I didn't really have time to do much more, but I did anyway! A needle of the proper size was assembled, a fresh skein of yarn obtained, and the collar was cast on. I only meant to do about 2 rows, with the intent of finishing the collar next time... however this skein produced a bigger wad of yarn barf than the previous, so I simply kept knitting until it was all cleaned up... which ended up being 6 rows. No time left to work on the "must-do" projects...

and that is why I don't write at the beginning of my day!


Nicole =o)

Facing it... and avoiding it...

Anybody who knows me, knows that I find different ways of avoiding things when I can. When I'm very stressed out about something, especially something that's out of my control, I tend to "escape" and typically that's into my video games mostly. It's the easiest way for me to occupy my brain with something brainless. That's why I was playing my games like nuts on Facebook Friday night... keeping my mind off of our loss.

During the day I did a ton of searching and such for my queue, and project plans for next year. It was a great way to focus my attention away from what was going on around me, and getting something accomplished as well. If you go back through my blog archives, you will find that quite frequently, my "avoidance days" are often my most productive days... just in other things!

So just what did I manage to accomplish?

Firstly, I discovered that any search for a cardigan pattern on Ravelry can not include "free" patterns unless you have about 4 days to go through all of the possibilities! I narrowed my search parameters to just what I already have in my vast library. With the selection of a few criteria, my choices were now down to just over 250 (from the well over 3000 when I included "free"!). This was a much more manageable list to go through. All of the ones that interested me enough, I added to my Ravelry favourites listing, along with a few keywords to help me sort through them later. After a few hours were spent on that, the 250-ish was down to about 30 realistic options. I tend to keep very few things saved in my queue and favourites, mainly using them for a "true" listing of what I want to make. Next, I went through the remaining patterns, and refined it all... adding yarn, size info; suitable Knit Picks yarn choices and the like. I ended up adding 5 (I think) of these to my queue, leaving the remainder in my favourites for the time being.

I am extremely serious about becoming more focussed in my projects this coming year. I want a sweater a month, a shawl a month, a design a month, a pair of socks a month, and an afghan a month! Those are pretty lofty goals, but since I already have some of these in progress, and the design can go hand-in-hand with one of the other categories, it isn't completely out of my reach. Now that I had quite a few sweaters and shawls in my queue, the next order of business was to get it all sorted. I added the tag "2012plan" to the projects I wanted to concentrate on the most... the sweaters and shawls... many in kit form just waiting for me to start them. After a lot of fiddling around with project order, and tags, and what still needed yarn to be purchased, I now had a game plan for most the first six months of 2012.

Nicole's Project Plan - January-June 2012

• January - Sweater: Tweed Cardigan (Mary Maxim kit); Shawl: finishing the Denise design; Afghan: finishing Derek's Popcorn MAM; Socks: finishing my Felici socks (Caprica colourway).
• February - Sweater: Melissa's Cute Knit Cardigan (Mary Maxim pattern/ Bravo yarn); Shawl: Diatom Shawl (Knit Picks kit, purples colourway); Afghan: finishing the Melissa design; Socks: finishing the Texaco design.
• March - Sweater: February Lady (Swish in Lemongrass or Swish Tonal in Kindling, which needs to be purchased); Shawl: Wandering Lace Wrap (Mary Maxim kit, Wood Rose colourway).
• April - Sweater: Melissa's Girl's Lacy Cardigan (Red Heart Soft, fuchsia colourway); Shawl: Season's Shawl (Knit Picks kit, fall/winter colourway).
• May - Sweater: In the Green (Bernat Cool Crochet, Tie Dye Shades colourway); Shawl: Nightsongs (Alpaca Silk, lavender colourway).
• June - Sweater: Primrose Path Cardigan (unknown yarn bag of mill ends, or Knit Picks CotLin, or Knit Picks City Tweed DK which would need to be purchased); Shawl: Chinook (Knit Picks kit, neutrals colourway).

I realize that I haven't planned afghans or socks for March and beyond. I have the rose-coloured afghan, and Wayne's afghan to finish, as well as a new design that's intended for Alex that I need to work on a bit and see if it will be accepted into the KP-IDP. I also have several other UFO/ WIPs in various states of completion. When it comes to socks, I'm never at a loss for projects! Derek is in desperate need of work socks, and I have several designs that need finishing up. As the end of February draws near, or I complete my January/ February goals, I can then decide what projects to spend my time on next.

Since beginning quilting and starting to sew again are also goals of mine for this next year, I am strongly considering creating a weekly plan... this day is for sewing... that day is for afghans... this day is for sweaters... you get the idea. I won't be able to purchase any of the quilting and sewing supplies I want/ need until the end of the month at the earliest, so whatever day I choose for sewing will be a "craft room organization day" for the time being. Sundays used to be for end-weaving, and that's what I want to do again... weaving in ends, and other project finishing details including photography. Monday is traditionally my "heavy cleaning" day, so working on the craft room fits in well there. That leaves me five more days to "assign", and I can work on that once the kids go back to school on the 9th (or is it the 10th). By that time Derek will be gone too, so I should have a couple of weeks to work on this "system". Fingers crossed that I can have that all sorted by the end of the month.

Wish me luck... oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


Nicole =o)

Not an April Fools' joke...

Just a fast note to bring my template changes to your attention. You may not notice anything different, but take a closer look at the sidebars... they both got a much-needed update. The information there is now current!! WOW!! Enjoy your April 1st, and hopefully you aren't taken by any jokes!!

The light at the end of the tunnel...

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and for once I'm certain that it's not a train coming towards me!!! I've been working fast and furious on my Mystic Ocean shawl over the last few weeks. If you are on Ravelry, check out my project page for this shawl! This time I linked the progress photos directly to the larger images available on my Flickr photostream.


6 days work from the previous status shot, and I've got another clue done! This chart gets the length of the shawl to 226 rows total. It feels like it will never end!!! You can finally start to see what the finished pattern will look like, and I'm very impressed with how it is turning out.



The morning that Derek left for Edmonton, I finished the 4th clue. I finally got a really nice photo in natural light for the last clue, so I made sure that I did it again for this one. The shawl is measuring over 5 feet across at this point, and I'm working on my 5th ball of yarn.


Somehow I managed to get 32 rows knitted in just over 3 days! I am really picking up speed even though each row is nearly 300 stitches!!! I just want to get this shawl done and blocked! I am beginning to worry about having enough yarn to finish up with. The pattern called for 1200 metres, and I started the 6th ball half-way through this chart. I have 4 *spare* balls of it, so I have my fingers crossed that it will be enough. I have 3 more sections to do, so it will be close! Wish me luck!

Moving right along!

Yes... Mystic Ocean is moving right along. The current is strong and swift, and with a little bit of luck, this journey will be complete no later than the end of May! Larger images of these photos are available at my Flickr Photostream, as well as more details of this project in my Ravelry notebook. The pattern I am using is Mystic Waters, and was designed by Anna Dalvi at knitandknag, as a mystery KAL in late 2007. I have named my version Mystic Ocean since the blue-green colour makes me think of the ocean, and it fits in with the theme of the element of water!

The yarn is Estelle Watercolours in a blue/green colourway {#21} that I bought at Ram Wools during the trip to Winnipeg that Derek and I recently took. It's a 50/50 mohair/acrylic blend, and is really nice to work with for a fuzzy yarn. Each 50g ball has approximately 160m, so according to the pattern, I need about 6 balls. To make things easier, I bought the entire bag of 10... I have to admit that the 50% price tag of $2.99 a ball made that decision a lot easier!!!

It took me about 2 days {including frogging my first attempt!} to get the first chart done. Derek was thoroughly impressed with how nice it was turning out even then. Just 60 rows of knitting so far, and I was quite pleased myself!

A couple of days later, I had the second chart complete, which was also signalled the end of the first clue. I was now 130 rows in, with no looking back... well except at the chart for the previous row so that I could make sure my stitches were in the right place of course! The top edge stretched out would be about 36" at this point, as I had a few stitches fall off of my needle as this picture was taken! The design is now quite evident in the project, and I need to find a way to stretch it more for my progress photos since the variegation in the yarn doesn't hide the stitch pattern.

Another week, and another clue done! Working really cuts into the knitting time, and each charted row takes about 10 minutes to knit. Completing chart C makes the shawl 184 rows long, with a stitch count of 188 stitches. I tried to stretch this out more, but need a better background so that you can see the openwork more clearly. The larger photo at Flickr shows the detail a bit better. The top edge is now at least 60" when stretched. I used two of my 32" circs to display it for the picture, and I could have pulled it out further. With around 200ish more rows to go, it will be HUGE once complete!

What the hell?!?

No, this isn't a late April Fool's joke... it's really me!!! I know it's been a long hiatus, even for me, but it's good to be back. One of the main reasons I haven't been around is because I had lost my internet access for 2 months. It was quite difficult surviving without any contact with my friends at all since I'm so isolated out here! Oh well... what's past is past! Let's get on with some progress info! I want to get this posted, so pics will have to follow... there are a few pictures in my Flickr though, as well as all of the project info in my Ravelry notebook.

These are the projects I can remember finishing since I was last on Blogger:
Lissa's garter rib scarf is done! Even with the couple of errors in the pattern, it worked out well. I've heard through the grapvine that many of the patterns in Magknits have problems with errors that are never fixed. I find this disenheartening since one of the patterns in my Ravelry queue is a cool looking pair of socks from there.

Rebecca's snake scarf is done. I remember having a few difficulties with this pattern as well, and was quite disappointed since I had just gotten over the troubles with Lissa's scarf. Overall I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Derek's work socks are also finally complete! This is the same pair that I cast on right after finishing Henry's back in October. They were put on the backburner while I worked on winter items, and were finally picked back up and finished in late March. I won't be starting any new work socks for him for a little while. Only working on these socks during breaks at my jobs made this a *very* long project to complete.

My blue stole was finished over this last weekend. When I went to update my sidebars, I realized that I hadn't even added it!!! I started this shawl well over 2 years ago... before Camille's had even closed! Derek and I were at Michael's, and he helped me choose the pattern as well as the yarn. I had cast it on, and had gotten about one ball into the project when I put it aside. The last time I can recall working on it prior to the last little while was when I was in Thompson 2 years ago this June!

I've got two new projects on the needles currently:
My Step socks. I'm making myself a pair of generic stockinette socks out of a ball of Austermann Step that I bought last year in Calgary. When I first started them on 2.0 mm dpns, I found the yarn to be horribly splitty. I restarted them on 2.25s with much better results. I did have to increase my usual number of cast on stitches, but the sock is still working up fast. As of this writing, I am just coming up on the heel flap and turn.

My Mystic Ocean shawl. I have finally started the Mystic Waters KAL shawl. This KAL was actually held in the fall, but I had neither the time, nor the supplies to do it then. When we took a recent trip to Winnipeg, I picked up some Estelle Watercolours and an Addi Lace needle to complete this shawl. The colourway I chose screamed "Green Ocean" to me, so it was the perfect choice for my project. As of this writing I'm nearly complete the second of eight charts... Row 95-ish of about 350-ish.

With the weather warming up outside, I have been able to knit during my coffee breaks at both jobs, not just lunch breaks, so that really helped in getting Derek's socks done, as well as the amazing progress on my Step socks already. My shawl is my computer/ living room project, and is going quite well even though I'm left with a halo of mohair fuzz all over my clothes every time I work on it! Even though I have Alex's hoodie listed as a WIP on my sidebar, it's currently actually a UFO. I need to find the pattern yet again!!! I'm finding that concentrating on just one project at home, and one travelling project is currently the best use of my knitting time.

January Goals

My goals for the month of January are thus:

Stash

1. All stash from craft room inventoried.
2. All inventoried stash photographed and uploaded to Flickr.
3. All inventoried stash listed in Ravelry with photographs linked.
4. Stash-busting goal of 1000 metres used, or given away.

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Current Projects

1. Decide on projects, and stick with, "three projects at a time" rule.
2. Find, and list {on blog and Ravelry} all WIPs/ UFOs currently in the house.
3. Finish at least three projects other than dishcloths.

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Projects I want to do

1. Create listing of all a-long's and a-month's that I belong to. Mostly done already, but keep this current.
2. Decide where those projects fit in with the "three project" rule.

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Photographs & Accountability

1. Keep blog and Ravelry up-to-date with progress.
2. Photograph and upload to Flickr all FOs. {This will be a constant goal, even though it's also left-over from December's list.}
3. Link all photos to Ravelry and Blogger.
4. Post at least weekly to blog with updates on progress, and check that sidebars are current.

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My Home

1. Declutter kitchen. {Specific list to follow}
2. Declutter dining room. {Specific list to follow}
3. Declutter living room. {Specific list to follow}
4. Make detailed list for kitchen redecorating plans.
5. Make detailed list for dining room redecorating plans.
6. Make detailed list for living room redecorating plans.

December Goals Round-up

On the 17th, I set myself a few goals to complete by the end of the month. We all know about how "the best laid plans" can go awry, but here is my progress record:

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My goals for the month of December:

1. Photographs of all FOs listed in Ravelry.
   No photographs were taken at all... partly because I couldn't find a yarn needle to weave in ends.
2. Blog sidebars completely up-to-date. Done.
3. Decide on first three projects to focus on as of January 1st.
   I have made my decisions, and have made a place on my sidebar to track them. That's another goal completed.
4. All a-long's and a-month's listed *somewhere*.
   This was done in a series of posts on the 26th. Some goals were listed, but not all. It's a good start IMO, and I count this goal as complete.
5. Computer desk and bookcase in living room completely decluttered.
   Both areas got some decluttering, but there still is a long way to go. On the up side, I *did* get both dining room counters decluttered. I will add them to my January goals.

Overall, I think I did quite well considering the work schedule I've been keeping, and my resulting health problems from all the kooky shifts. I'm working at getting "day shift" at Wal-Mart so that I won't have the problems associated with my body trying to switch shifts so drastically every week.

Other CALs, KALs, and a-longs

Cloth of the Week: This is a Yahoo Group devoted to making a dishcloth a week.

Dishcloth Weekly KAL: Every week a new pattern... another one that I'll decide on as I go.

For Me?!: A KAL/CAL that emphasizes that it's okay to spend five minutes a day working on something just for you. The December-January project is lace, and I figured that my lace shawl fits into that category!

Monthly Dishcloths KAL: 2 cloth patterns a month, and also on Yahoo Groups. I'll decide on this one once I see what the requirements are for January's cloths. This is an excerpt from the description on the Rav group: 1st of the Month KAL: These KALs have a monthly theme and usually have a picture of something pertaining to the month/season. Usually a solid color is best for pictured dishcloths. 16th of the Month KAL: These KALs are usually a repeating pattern of some type. I try to incorporate a “new” stitch. Maybe something that you haven’t tried yet. Variegated yarns are usually good to use for these KALs.

Stash Knitdown 2008: The January challenge is to knit a mile... that's about 1600 m {give or take} out of stash yarn. It actually runs from January 5th to February 19th, so I think that it's a doable goal with all of the stuff I have to work on!

Sweater-a-month: A goal-oriented group to motivate me to make {and finish!} a sweater a month! I will set Alex's hoodie as my first goal here.

Lace Knitting... *sigh*

Lace and shawls are my main draw these days. In 2007 it was socks, and in 2008 it will be lace!


So far I've been very good {I think!}. I have only started one shawl so far, and that's my version of Stephanie's Snowdrop Shawl. I'm currently waiting for a lace needle to try out on it so that I can decide if I want to invest in a few more for future projects. The next project I want to do is Mystic Waters. I was a part of the Yahoo and Ravelry groups for this shawl, and now that the KAL is done, the FO is stunning and a definite must-do. Seraphina's shawl is done out of worsted weight yarn, so I am going to fit that one in there once my afghan is completed.


These are the lace-related groups that I belong to on Ravelry:

2KLace: This is a group that I hope will motivate me to complete the lace project(s) I am currently working on, as well as the ones I am planning to do.

Juno-Regina Along: An a-long created to knit Juno-Regina from Knitty as a group.

Lace Knitters: Another group to help motivate me... more in the way of help understanding and figuring out what I'm doing.

Laceapalooza: A group similar to Lace Knitters.

Muir-along: An a-long created to knit Muir from Knitty as a group.

Secret of Bad Nauheim: A mystery KAL by the designer of Chrysopolis.

Secret of the Stole ii: The 2nd SOTS KAL.

Seraphina's Shawl: A group devoted to those who want to knit, are knitting, or have knit this pattern.

Spring Shawl Surprise: Another mystery shawl KAL.

WTH?? Where's Nicole???

It's been a tumultuous time for me lately. I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty of the details, but suffice it to say that things have finally started to turn around for us. With all that turmoil over {or nearly so}, I've been able to get back to thinking about myself and what I'd like to accomplish. Part of this is also blogging again. I've joined a multitude of groups and "alongs" to try and get myself motivated, as well as follow a few of my interests. Now what I need to do is sit down and actually establish realistic goals for myself, that includes taking care of the house as well as my projects and stash. Of course, this will all need to fit into my typically harried lifestyle/ work schedule. I will post my goals for the month on the first day of the month, and I will start draft posts for the end of each month to upload on the last day to hold myself accountable for those goals.

My stash: This needs serious reduction in the worst way. Part of that will require actually inventorying it so that I know what's there, and can congratulate myself accordingly when milestones/ goals are met. I want to have an inventory listed in Ravelry of what's currently inside my craft room by the end of January. I think that's realistic considering just *how* much yarn there is in there. As an added bonus, it will help organize the room better. Once I know where I'm at, then I can start setting goals towards working through it.

My current projects: I have more projects on the go right now than I possibly know what to do with. I've been trying quite hard to focus on one project at a time more lately, but I have yet to make any *real* difference in my amount of WIPs/ UFOs. I am progressing faster on individual projects since I'm not switching back and forth constantly, but I am still finding the lack of FOs to be discouraging. I need to figure out what to do about this.

My wish list of projects: I have several shawls that I would like to make in the new year, as well as a few a-month groups that I've joined. I'll need to find a place to organize all that, as well as set goals so that I'm not overwhelmed with WIPs. In the case of shawls, I want to finish my Snowdrop shawl, and then start on my Mystic Waters shawl.

Photographic proof & accountability: I am seriously behind in taking FO and stash shots. I want to have all of my FOs photographed by the end of the year, and all stash photographed as it is logged into Ravelry. Part of this will also be making sure that my sidebars in here in Blogger are up-to-date.

My home: Between insane work schedules and a serious case of the I-don't-give-a-damn's, my home has been seriously neglected. I have decluttering, redecorating, and yard/ garden plans that I'd like to institute here. I intend to start this by decluttering the living room, dining room, and kitchen, as well as redecorating them. I have already made many of my redecorating decisions, it's just a matter of budgetting them to make them a reality.

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In closing, I just want to {re}state my goals for the month of December.

1. Photographs of all FOs listed in Ravelry.
2. Blog sidebars completely up-to-date.
3. Decide on first three projects to focus on as of January 1st.
4. All a-long's and a-month's listed *somewhere*.
5. Computer desk and bookcase in living room completely decluttered.

I'm at 20!!! Holy Crap!!!

Well it's official... I've hit the 20 pair mark for this year! That makes my average a little under 2 pairs a month, which is nothing to be ashamed of, unless you include the fact that my sock yarn stash doesn't seem to be getting any smaller!!! That's another 420 metres added to my total, which is now at 6087 metres... I'VE BROKEN THE 6 KM MARK!!!

On Tuesday afternoon I did the final stitches on the "Boss Wife Socks". These are the socks that I knit for the wife of Derek's boss Henry... whose socks were the last sock FO featured here. They've really been wonderful in everything they've done for us since {and even before} we moved out here, and it's just a small token of how much I {we} appreciate it. Clicking on the picture will take you to the Flickr page for it, or you can visit my main Flickr page to see all of my photos. If you want more details on these socks, leave me a comment, or go visit the project page on Ravelry. Of course you can view all my projects on my main projects page on Rav too!

It's done, done, done!!!

Yes!!! The three-day table topper is officially finished! I did the last few stitches on it when I got home from work this morning, wove in the ends, and washed it. As soon as I'm done this post, I'll be blocking it out and then going to bed. I'll get pictures of it up tomorrow probably. I won't be making a matching one after all... we don't carry the DMC Traditions at this store... that makes *that* decision a little easier!!!

Derek went digging in the store yesterday and found all kinds of goodies for me! I now have the power cord to one of my sewing machines, so I can finally get started on a bit of that! He also found a bag with a few balls of sock yarn in it... why wasn't that in my sock yarn bin? In any case, that's giving me the motivation to finally post some more of my stash on Ravelry.

I've started the heel turn on my Tofu socks, but I don't know what I want to work on here at home now that the table topper is finished. I joined a group that has you pledge to work on only three projects at a time. Well the Tofu is one, and I can't decide on the other two since I've got about seven different projects in front of me here at the computer, all in differing stages of completion.

Here are the choices:

• Lissa's cardigan - nearly done
• Lace shawl - barely started
• Blue shawl - about 25%
• Sheri's socks - just started sock #2
• New sock design - about 4" knit of sock #1
• Derek's socks - just started sock #1
• Ripple ghan - 25%-ish

What do you think my choices for #2, and #3 should be? Leave me a comment and let me know!

The Year of the Shawl

2007 has certainly turned out to be the year of the sock for me! 18 pairs so far and still counting. I've joined a few shawl groups, and have decided that 2008 will be the year of the shawl for me. I'm kicking this off by casting on my Snowdrop Shawl today {picture below}. I've got it listed in my projects on Ravelry, and have a larger picture linked there from my Flickr. The thread is Clea 1000 that I bought at Ram Wools during their January sale, and I'm using 4.0 mm needles for it. Just from the cast on I can see the truism about knitted lace... it *does* look like shit!!! I know it will block out nice, and I have some hopes for this shawl that I'm knitting into it. I'm hoping to make this project one of my "storylines" for NaBloPoMo as well. Wish me luck!

Random Wednesday

It may be Wednesday for you, but it's Friday for me!!! I'm *really* hating the stupid days off I've been given. I guess I'm just frustrated because I was *so* close to getting *real* weekends off back in Winnipeg, and I was counting on getting day shift out here. Anyhoo... off with the rant, and on to the randomness!!!

I'm knitting again in bits and pieces. I can't handle very long at a stretch, but some knitting is better than no knitting. Crocheting is still off-limits for the time being. I've been playing on Ravelry, and adding groups and working on my notebook. I'm gonna be taking some pictures on my weekend of my WIPs and getting them up here and on Rav. Sheri's socks are still on hold until I find out her shoe size. Henry's second sock has been started, and I should be turning the heel during my weekend. I'm about 60 rounds down the foot of Tofutsies #1, but with the tiny guage, I can see my usual 60-65 round foot easily becoming 80 or more. *sigh* I've resisted the temptation to start another pair of socks, and have been knitting away on my afghan.

The yarn shop is still a WIP... having two mortgages is a *HUGE* drain on the finances, and I need that money to put in my initial yarn orders. Cross your fingers for me that the house sells soon!!!

The other thing I've been working on is *finally* getting around to working on my podcast. I have gotten majorly side-tracked on that project, and it's beyond time to get it going. I'm looking for topics, and have a few essay ideas to work on.

And now for something completely different!!!

Yes... something completely different... a post where I don't spend 99% of it bitching about my crappy interweb!!!

First the bad news... I've developed a repetitive motion injury from using my boxcutter at work. That means I'm not supposed to allowed to knit. That only caused a temporary stop to my work, and I'm back knitting again, albeit carefully choosing projects, and limiting my time on them.

I finished another dishcloth at the flea market. I managed to sell a little bit, but not enough to pay for my first B&L order like I had originally hoped. No fear though, I am damned and determined to get that order in!!!

I've gotten the first work sock done for Derek's boss, and finally got through all the gusset decreases on my Tofu socks. I started a pair of plain stockinette for Sheri {boss' wife} out of some stash sock yarn; Dazzle Super Socks in a blue/teal/green jacquard colourway. I've just finished the gusset decreases on the first one of those.

I've gotten a few more colour repeats done on the ripple afghan for the living room. It measures about 14-16" now. Once my wrist can handle more knitting, I'll be able to get back to my goal of 2-4 repeats a week on it. The kitchen floor mat out of my cotton yarn leftovers is currently stalled. I use pencil hold for crocheting, and that's just *not* doable right now.

And now, the best for last... I'M ON RAVELRY!!!! Yes, I *am* yelling! There Lyz... you can SHUT UP NOW!!! I'm on there... I'm *still* not spinning though! *sticks tongue out at best friend*