Holy cow it's Thursday!

Where did this week go? I think it went into the same hiding spot that the rest of this year has disappeared into! Please tell me that I'm not the only one that feels like this entire year so far has sped by in the blink of an eye.

I've been "busy" and "not busy" all week it seems. I used a tutorial I found online to design a dress for Melissa. It turned out pretty darned cute if I do say so myself. I'm waiting to hear back from the person that wrote the tutorial, and if she agrees, I'll be posting my own "how-to". I took a ton of photos as I went along so that I could share with you all. I haven't finished off any other projects this week, but I've been making steady progress on everything at least.

My biggest efforts for the last few days have been business-type ones. As you can see from my blog layout, I've *really* been messing around with the appearance of it. I still can't get it to where it pleases me again. I really liked my old layout and template, but it didn't support any of the dynamic features that I wanted, such as searching posts by tag. I'm also having some trouble with graphics, since I no longer have a graphic artist available. I have an extremely talented daughter that can draw amazingly well, but she doesn't do it on the computer. I have been working "behind the scenes" a ton too. I'm completely revamping my standard pattern layout and such. It will be a fairly involved process since I will be going through each one with a fine-toothed comb and making sure that every little aesthetic detail has been taken care of. My 10 year anniversary as a published designer is coming up, and I'd like to have everything looking really spiffy for the occasion!

Off to town to get the thread I need for the dress hem, and see what else follows me home today. It's the last day of a sale at the fabric store, and I have two 40% off coupons for the craft store!!


Till next time,
Nicole =o)

What *am* I working on?

Anyone who knows me even slightly can attest to the fact that I am *far* from a monogamous crafter. Now that I've added sewing and quilting to my current hobbies, of course that means even *more* WIPs (and the resultant UFOs as well). This year I've been trying to focus better, and I think I've been pretty successful in resisting the urge to start every "Ooh shiny!!" project that tempts me. Of course I still have a multitude of projects, but I'm getting pretty darned good at producing quite a few FOs also.

Knitting:

Knitting is still my favourite pastime, as the callous on my right index finger will attest to. Strangely enough, I only have one project that I'm actively working on, and that's sample socks. I'm getting one done at a time, finishing one before casting on the next. I am halfway down the foot of my current project, and have three more socks to knit for photography purposes.

Crocheting:

I've been crocheting for over 20 years now, so it's inevitable that I would come across some pretty old UFOs. My current "living room" project is my oldest (that I know of) UFO. It's an afghan that I began in 1998 or 1999. I have about 6 more rows to work before doing the edging, so I'm anticipating finishing in the next day or three. My current "travelling" project is another crocheted afghan. It's a plaid design worked in strips and I purchased it as a kit from Herrschners this spring. I have completed over a third of it, and don't expect it will take very long to complete.

Quilting:

I have a large bin of projects ready to quilt, and more ready to "sandwich". I am not too worried about those right now, but I have 3 quilt tops cut and ready to sew. The first one I want to work on is a pink ribbon bargello. It's in honour of Auntie Wendy, whom we lost just over 5 years ago during her third battle with breast cancer. I've put away my sewing machine for a little while so that I can spend my energies on designing and writing. We shall see how long I can resist *that* temptation!!!
Most of all, I'm having fun working a combination of my own designs and OPPs (Other People's Patterns), and in a variety of mediums. Doing that helps in keeping me motivated. I added a bunch of new-to-me yarns to my stash while on vacation this summer so I'm looking very forward to seeing what they want to become. I also increased my fabric stash by 2 over-flowing suitcases, so that will be fun to play with as well!

Till next time,
Nicole =o)

Sent from my BlackBerry® powered by Virgin Mobile.

The tape measure LIES!!!

Yes everyone, it's no longer just the bathroom scale that is a lying, cheating you-know-what. The previously trustworthy tape measure has now been delegated to "the boy who cried wolf" status.

Now before you all go commenting about how tape measures can stretch over time, and should be replaced periodically... this is a FOUR INCH DIFFERENCE!!! In less than an hour! Here is what I wrote on the project notes for my While Shrug earlier today:

Well I’ve discovered that my measuring tape LIES!!! I’ve mainly been working on this when I can’t work on socks… Knit Night, travelling back and forth to the airport, things like that. I had measured it a few days ago and had placed a marker at the 40” mark, since I wasn’t quite a 50” yet, and I knew I had to get to 57” before doing the ribbing for the cuff. Yesterday evening, we drove into the city since Derek had a very early flight this morning. I took advantage of the time and got quite a bit done on the shrug… or so I thought! Measuring on my lap, in the truck, my work was 17” from the marker. When we got to the hotel, one of the first things I did was roll it all out to get a proper measurement. Derek and I checked it, and it was only 53”!!! I have no idea how it shrank that much, since I was knitting away for well over an hour of our drive in on it! I placed new markers at 50”, and hopefully the last bit will be done over the next few days or so! 

See what I mean? It lies... it totally, and completely lied to me! At least it won't take all that long to finish it up. I've got my fingers crossed that this will be done before Derek gets back home again in 2 weeks. I like having FOs to show him, so that he knows I'm actually finishing things, not just starting them! Besides, I'm enjoying watching my knitmeters increase over there on the sidebar.


Nicole =o)

Works in progress...

Just like all of my socks right now, this blog is another work in progress! It's definitely going to take me a bit of time to get all the settings just how I want them. The advantage is that a lot of the content will be dynamic... which means less time needed when I'm doing updates down the road. The source coding is a lot more than what I'm used to, so I will have to decipher it all before I can start fixing it! I'm still encouraging comments and feedback for all of it.

Back to the socks...

I am trucking along on my KD-IDP sample. I was sort-of hoping that I would have it finished today, but no luck there. I have gotten it past the heel turn, and only have a couple gusset decreases left. Fingers are crossed for completion tomorrow, and casting on of the second sock. I really want to have these done by the weekend so that I can get them washed, blocked, photographed, and sent off next week. That will be very satisfying personally, and as an added bonus, another 422 metres on the knitmeter!

I was able to knit a stripe's worth on my Felici sock yesterday too. I want to get at least the first sock done before Derek leaves next Monday. Wednesday I head off to Winnipeg to pick him up from the airport, but he's only home 4½ days this time around. It's looking like my trips into town will only be once a month from now on instead of every two weeks. That means I have a ton of running around to do before the airport. I just hope that Winnipeg Trading Post is open at 9 or 9:30. I want to check out their bead selection. I wasn't able to find them online, and I do recall that they used to do mail order. I'm hoping to find some glass beads larger than the 6/0 I can get here. I also need to run into Ram Wools. I am hunting for some inspirational sock yarns, specifically some Durasport; a yarn swift; and hopefully some circulars for socks. If I still have time, I will be hopping over to Wolseley Wool as well. I haven't gotten an email from them yet, but my fingers are crossed that my crochet hook set is in.

I've been injured!!!

Yuppers... I have a spring cleaning-related injury of all things! It's bad enough how I jab the nerves of my finger with my dpns, and have built up a fairly thick knitting callous, but now I've been damaged by my cleaning rags! I guess I use a lot of strength when wringing it out, since I now have two very tender, and very raw spots on my right hand, exactly where the cloth rubs! I forced myself to finish off the back hallway despite my "disability". That was the goal I had for the day, and I was damned and determined to finish it. However, until my fingers heal up, 90% of the cleaning is up to the kids. Lord, help me with that!!! Dishes and wiping the counters, etc. will be about the extent of my efforts until a healing layer is present. This really derails my momentum, and I certainly hope that I will be able to continue on with my plans by Thursday. That would mean I would only be losing one real day of scrubbing, and since I already had a lot of errands to run, and last minute things to do around here, I am unsure if I would have been able to get much done tomorrow anyway. Wednesday, of course, I will be travelling back and forth to Winnipeg, so nothing can get done around here then.

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)

Travelling is tiring!

It's been a very long day for me. I had to get up at 4am to drive into the city to pick up Derek from the airport, and then turn right around and come back home!

At least I didn't come home empty handed... I stopped at Wolseley Wool and got a few things. First on the list was "orange yarn" to shut up my best friend, Liz. She's been telling me for about a month now that I had to get some orange yarn or she would explode! I got a cool hand-painted sock "blank" from Flat Feet, and a nice orangey wool/ alpaca blend from ONline. I also wanted to get some more removable stitch markers for my cardigan, but they were out of stock. I did manage to pick up a new crochet hook to try out to see how my wrist handles it, and a package of straight Chibi's. I also ordered a set of interchangeable crochet hook frojm Knitter's Pride, now that they are available in Canada. I'm looking forward to trying them out.

The only knitting that was accomplished was the leg of Derek's work sock. One of his work buddies caught a ride home with us, so with 3 of us sitting on the one bench seat in the truck, it was the easiest to manage. At least I'll be able to get the sock itself finished in the next few days!

Project Progress Updates

I have been quite busy lately, as you can see by the knitmeters on my sidebar. I have also been tracking how much yarn I've bought so far this year, and it's nearly an even amount. My goal for the year is to use more than I buy, and for this, sock yarn does count as stash!

I am now finished all of the commissioned projects I had in my queue. All that's left is washing and delivery! I haven't had time to take any pics yet or upload them, but I'm hoping to get that done tomorrow. For this week I have finished off Raith's socks, started and finished Raith's slippers and Neecie's slippers, started a pair of work socks for Derek and finished the first one.

For the next few days I want to continue finishing off a few things. My tweed cardigan is expected to be finished by Wednesday (according to Derek anyway LOL!), the second sock for Derek should be done, as well as a pair of slippers for him. I also want to get the Gumdrop Placemat set finished up for pattern release.

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. 

I should know better..

...than to make any kind of plans to finish something!

I was just cruising along on my A Little Bit Irish cardigan, or so I thought! I'm not sure if I messed up while at the airport, but I know I messed up on the increases while at knit night. The end result was frogging 7 rows of work:

Then I had to knit it all up again so I wouldn't have a knotted mess:

Now I can cruise again until it's time to start the next ball of yarn, and I'll pause to count rows and stitches and such then!

All brainless knitting isn't the same!

Tonight was my monthly knitting night. It's something I really need for several reasons. First of all, it tends to be my only contact with real people. With not working outside of the home, and being out in the middle of nowhere, and not having any friends out here, I simply don't have contact with people outside of my home other than the internet! It's also nice to meet with other knitters and crocheters... see what they're working on, get to feel and see different yarns and tools... just talk with other people that "get it"... ones whose eyes don't glaze over when you start talking about how smooth your new needles are, how squishy and soft your new yarn is, etc etc.

I learned long ago that for any knit night, that the project(s) I bring to work on have to be mindless, no pattern to follow, nothing that requires counting rows, no counting stitches above about 10. I decided to bring Raith's Wild sock, and my Little Bit Irish cardigan with me. The sock is over halfway down the foot, so I wouldn't have to worry about counting rows before starting the toe. The cardigan is at the point where I increase before and after the markers, and purl the wrong side. Both are very suitable for knit night, or so I thought!

The place we met this time was a restaurant, and was very poorly lit. That eliminated the possibility of knitting on the sock, as the yarn is quite dark for the most part. That meant working on the cardi, which is what I wanted to work on anyway! Well, at the end of the night, as I was saying my goodbyes, I commented about how I was going to go home and check my increases to make sure I got them all. I had knit about 6 rows of my cardi, which is 3 increase rows, but with chatting and such, I'm not completely sure if I remembered to do my increases before and after each marker! LOL!!


Nicole =o)

Travelling means slippers!

I can't recall exactly when the tradition started, but whenever Derek travels, I make him a new pair of slippers. He used to "blow through" a pair every time he went away, so I simply began making him a new pair before he left! Well, he has needed a new pair for some time now, and since his flight is at 7am, I figured it was about time I made some! I'm proud to announce my first FO of 2012: Derek's Travelling Slippers

I have also set up knitmeters on the sidebar to note how much yarn I've worked through this year. I downloaded my stash database on Ravelry, and it's over 170 km of yarn! Since this project was about 183m, that means I crocheted up 1/1000th of my stash! LOL! I will only be adding to that total as a project is finished, so the numbers will stay static until projects are done.

I am currently working on the yoke of my cardigan while I wait for the time for Derek and I to leave for the airport. I'm not getting the 3+ hours of knitting time as I had hoped because his 7am flight requires us to leave home by 2am! I can knit by feel somewhat, but I can't knit in total darkness. Here's how the collar turned out:

I will keep on working on this until it's time to get ready to go in about an hour or so. We printed up the pattern for the rose-coloured afghan today, so I'm pretty sure that Derek thinks that is the project I will be working on... won't he be surprised when he returns?!? I'm also hoping to have the cardigan done, or nearly done by the time he gets back. The cardigan, the popcorn afghan, and the commissioned projects will definitely keep me busy mindlessly for when I need a diversion from my mind wandering to places that it best not wander off to.


Nicole =o)

The little swatch that could!

Yesterday I was talking about my swatch, and here it is:

This is the third one I did, and is the correct stitch count per inch at long last! I slogged through the rest of the collar and got started on the body. I only did a couple rows of the body, enough to establish the increases. Those couple of rows were enough to make it easier going now that I'm using the larger needle size. 3.5mm needles and worsted/ aran weight yarn don't mix all that well, no matter how good your needles are! I'm not sure how much I will get done on this daily... I'm sorta aiming for around 10 rows, but since it will be over 300 stitches at the underarm before dividing for the sleeves, that number is definitely negotiable! I'm taking this project and Raith's socks with me on the drive to the airport, so I will have 3 solid hours of knitting time, and possibly more if I wait with Derek for his flight!

I want this project to be one of my "mindless" ones, which means that I don't really have to think. Follow the directions on the pattern, and "just do it"! I like these kinds of projects for the break from the brain-busting that some of my designing does. It's a treat to be able to just sit and knit and not have to think about what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and getting it written down in a way that resembles English. It's relaxing and soothing in a way that is hard to describe. I enjoy designing... I really do, but I also like to zone-out and feel the rythym of the stitches being formed by my fingers. All that being said, I am changing the type of increases that the pattern calls for. It calls for all eight increases to be standard m1 increases. While this type will serve the purpose, I really prefer to have mirrored increases, especially in a place as visible as a raglan sleeve. The increases I do are a type of lifted increase that I saw in a book once, and they give it a very nice look IMO. They don't take any more time, and I do them without really thinking about it anyway... kind of like how I do a ssk for any decrease paired with a k2tog, or a sl1 k2tog psso for any centred double decrease.

In unrelated news, I found the other missing pattern for my UFO afghan. I was searching around Ravelry a bit when I remembered a printed pattern I had found in the craft room by "SAG55". Searched a little bit more, and found the pattern I wanted on the Internet Archive. It's called Basketweave Afghan, and I remember it being a completely brainless project. It was my "bus project" for some time until it basically out-grew the shopping bag I carried it in. When I was looking at it, I guess-timated it to be around 50% done, and that's how I've entered it into my projects page. I also entered Derek's Popcorn MAM into my projects, but that pattern isn't linked in Ravelry either. I get started on that one Wednesday night!


Nicole =o)

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)

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.

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.

---

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.

What *did* I accomplish?

Other than teaching my kids a few new curse words that were directed at my craptastic ISP over the last few days, I did manage a few productive things as well!

I got the table topper blocked and photographed... the pictures will follow in a day or so.
I made a between-projects dishcloth... part of my 10 dishcloths challenge.
I got nearly 2 full 2-pattern repeats done on the snowdrop shawl... status pic to follow in a day or so.
I got the heel flap, heel turn, and gusset picked up on the Tofu socks.
I got the ribbing done on Sheri's sock so that it's now a mindless knitting project.
I got 3 repeats of my sock design pattern done.
I frogged a cardigan I'd started for Lissa, and got the yarn balled up.
I frogged a pullover for Alex and restarted it in the round.
I cleaned out the inside of my computer and partially set it up in my craft room.
I located more of the "Lissa stash", and 2 different camo yarns for projects to work on while I teach knitting to a co-worker.

I still haven't decided what I'll be working on as my 3 projects... I will probably have to make it either 4 or 5, since I'll have 2 different ones going at work. Stay tuned!

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!