So many UFOs, so little time...

Someone on Ravelry (in the counted cross-stitch group) started a "how many current projects do you have?" thread. I realized that (*shudder*) I'd gone over 50 again due to the ANG meeting that I didn't actually attend (a combination of extreme allergies and a Nuclear Security Summit are to blame for it this month). So, time to take a look at The List, and see what I can (or should!) finish off quickly.

Stuff I've started this year and not yet finished:
"Hello Kitty" Illusion Scarf. Side One is finished, Side Two is started, and I've misplaced my notebook with the Happy Star and Happy Heart patterns (which will be available for free here and via Ravelry once I've finished my scarf, since they're cute, and other people might want to knit something with them in them).


The Yarn on Thursday: Stitch Edition Blanket. Yeah, that's not gonna be done for quite a while!


Rogue Hooded Pullover. Since getting it almost finished, then frogging half of it back, I've not quite had the heart to figure out where I was and get it restarted. I need to do this. There's still a wee small chance I'll have it done in time for the Celtic Festival (although with my allergies acting up so badly, I may not be able to go - still, just in case...!).


The Enrelac Doll Blanket. Well, I've only got about half a skein of yarn left, and, for entrelac, it goes pretty quickly. I figure this will be done by the end of the week, and certainly by the end of the weekend. (My friend's birthday party on Saturday *always* develops a S&B corner!)


The Kiev Mini Stocking. Goes with the Kiev Canvas I got at In Stitches last month. Started during the day on monday; I've already frogged a few bits, since they weren't coming out quite as I'd hoped. Decided to stitch all the stuff that I knew would be in Continental stitch first - the purple and the black!


Other Stuff I've Started that I Could (conceivably) Finish This Year, or Sooner.
There's a really intricate, pretty version of The List from July, 2008 here - as you can probably tell, I was spending more time making The List pretty than actually working on anything on it! There are a lot of things on that version of the list that have since been finished, unraveled, frogged, discarded, or put aside until a better home is found for them.

Lake District Designs' "English Knot Garden". I picked this up at my very first Stash Festival - Spirit of Cross-Stitch, I think, back in the mid-90s, and it's been on the list since the list began. (The list says it was started in 1996; I will trust the list.) If I can figure out where it's stashed in my house, I vaguely recall that there's only about twelve colors left to stitch, and most of the tricky bits are done. I think it went into its bag last time when I was faced with what seemed like an inordinate amount of backstitch. Evidently, I've never taken a photo of mine; I'll have to fix that when I find it. Here's a photo of hers that Sandra C. posted (and click on that there link - she's done some lovely stuff!!)


Aerlate Studios' "Small Ferocious Beastie/Gryphon" - I took two of their charts and merged them to make a personalized Gryphon for myself. I've got about half the black stitching around the border to do - slightly less than half, now, really, and most of the gold-work. The idea was to make it look like an illuminated manuscript page, and it will (someday) have a suitably baroque frame. According to this blog, it got started sometime in 2008.


(at end of summer, 2008)
A couple of projects need finding and frogging, because when I start them again, I'm going to start on smaller needles, with a fresh chart. It will depend, however, on (a) how far I've actually gotten and (b) how the knitting looks, esp. decreases and increases - I'm much better at those now than I was even a year ago, thanks to the TKGA classes/Masters. Among these are Gwenivere (Secret of the Stole #1). I've restarted her, but I think I need to do a complete restart. Luckily, I love the yarn and the pattern, so I know she'll get knitted someday. (And my Secret of the Stole #2 is still the only shawl I wear regularly. It sits in its place on top of the Hello Kitty plush Halloween basket, in case I get chilled.)


The Tiger Eye stole. OMG, I love this yarn... and this is really the pattern I want to make it in. However, I think I'm still using too-large needles, and I really need to write myself out a REAL pattern, with pages and pages and (gasp) row numbers.


And I should really turn in my Level 1 Masters stuff. I really, really should.


I've got a partially stitched "Bargello Flames Bag" that needs to get completely frogged. I started it when I was completely in love with Bargello, but didn't quite get the scale I was working on. Well, maybe not... it *does* look pretty cool. Dunno. (And I need to finish the canvas you can see behind it, too. And find those really cool little scissors - where the heck are they now?)


So many projects that *could* be done, if I could focus/actually carry them around/still wanted them... so little time!!

We interrupt this blog

We interrupt this regularly-scheduled crafting blog for this Emergency Knitting report. Yes, this is a Knitting Emergency. The story you are about to hear is true; only the names have been changed to protect the innocent:

Saturday, March 27, 2010. It was a cold but sunny afternoon; my mother and I stopped by the local AC Moore because of the coupon. A fifty percent off any item coupon, and I was in the market for some yarn needles. You know how it is. We wandered the aisles, and then she dropped the bombshell:

"Your sister will be in town on Good Friday. Did I tell you she's having a girl? I told her you'd knitted some things for her."

As I scraped my jaw off the floor, I realized two things: my mother doesn't understand that while yes, I knit faster than she does, I don't knit all that fast, and she's said 'things', plural. I responded the only way I could:

"WHAT?"

I should've saved my breath; she was off and running. She went up and down the yarn selections, dissing this yarn and that. This wasn't pink enough, that was too pink, that wasn't soft, that was bamboo, wasn't that flammable? She eventually found a yarn she thought was appropriate, and asked me what sort of blanket I was going to make, and it would have a really ruffle-y edge, right? Again, I responded:

"WHAT?"

Really ruffle-y, she repeated, and checked the label on the yarn for suggested needle size. She grabbed a set of size 8 circulars from across the aisle, and tossed them into her cart atop the pile of very, VERY soft baby-pink yarn. She had, of course, grabbed all of it. Then she started talking about something else... and my brain unfroze enough to realize that not only did she expect me to make an entire baby blanket in less than a week, I was also supposed to produce a sweater. My vocabulary remained limited.

"WHAT?"

And it had better be a pretty, girly sweater, too. And could I make it match the blanket? Well, I could start while I waited in the car, she was going to go to Marshalls. She bought the yarn and needles (and I remembered to get my yarn needles, although regrafting or reseaming much of anything wasn't going to happen this week, that was for sure), tossed me the car keys, and trotted off to the next store.

To my credit, I did not drive off without her.

So, forget anything else I was going to work on this week, like, say, Level 1 or the Rogue sweater. I am currently adrift in a sea of soft baby-pink yarn of my mother's choosing, with the certain knowledge that while this week of knitting will be hellish, it will be MORE hellish if I don't finish my unexpected assignment in time to be wrapped in appropriately baby-themed paper with adorable ribbons before I see my sister on Friday. At church, no less. (At least veiling is an evening ceremony, right?)

Here's where I stand so far. I did, in fact, start the blanket in the car Saturday afternoon about 4pm. Completely off the cuff. Went with Celtic cables because (a) they're on the Rogue sweater and I'm used to them right now and (b) sis is Irish-American by birth and Irish (citizen & all) now, and is Danged Proud Of It, so she'll love it. Winging it. Completely. Worked on it through Monday evening commute; about 2/5 of the way done, but I'm at an easy part which should go pretty quickly for about 50 rows, then I just have to replicate what I did at the one end at the other end and throw on a ruffle.


This was knit on circular needles.
This is a size 8 straight that's supposed to be in my Hello Kitty scarf.
The baby sweater I started Monday night - was that just yesterday? - and I'm about 1/3 done with it after this morning's commute. It's Courtney Filner's Five Hour Baby Sweater (thanks to the Lovely L for the pointer!), with slight mods - I'm doing different decreases on the sleeves. And yes, I checked the errata thread on Ravelry, so I didn't freak about the "extra stitch" or the "150" stitches. It's all good. Here's where I was when I'd finally decided that not being able to see straight was impairing my knitting:


Here's where my size 8 circs are now.
Thank goodness I found my acrylic 8s for the sleeves!
I'll tell you right now that there won't be a Yarn on Thursday: Stitch Edition again this week, since when the heck have I had the time to do anything but knit with baby-pink yarn? (Or, for that matter, SLEEP?)

I love my sister. I love my mother. Sometimes, her emergency *is* my emergency. Sigh. I love my sister. I love my mother. I will keep repeating this until I believe it again!

So, I'm making fantastic progress on the Rogue Hooded Pullover. As of the end of the weekend, I'd managed to knit enough that I could attach the top of my Kangaroo Pocket:


Wednesday evening's needle trauma...


...put me back a bit metally, since I 'lost half a commute' of knitting - except I then got that half-commute back, with new needles. Since my brain thought I was 'behind', I stayed up way too late. So, by the end of Thursday lunch, I'd finished the main body-in-the-round part, and I'd started knitting up the back/shoulder bits. And then proceeded to stay up way too late again (well, FlashForward was on, so that helped). Plus the commute in on Friday... so, as of right now, I'm here:


This means that by the end of the weekend (assuming I don't sleep through the whole thing in a histamine haze - tree pollen is really high right now), I may (gasp!) be ready to start the sleeves!!

It's been almost a week since I started a new project, so...

Got some things finished. Got my best friend's long-overdue wedding sampler pillow door-hanger thing to her, and she loved it. (Yay!). Mailed the box of Yarn Goodies to my brother, which included this instructional swatch:


And, in a fit of yarny optimism which I'm blaming squarely on my favorite knitter-down-under, RandomKnits, I actually pulled out supplies (!) and did a proper schematic (!!) and swatched (!!!) for Girl From Auntie's Rogue Hooded Pullover (aka the Rogue Hoodie). I've had the pattern for years now, and kept *meaning* to start it, since I love it (and, let's face it, there was always the hope that I'd suddenly lose 50 pounds, which would mean it would be a much smaller, less-yarn-requiring, faster knit). Through the magic of Twitter, I learned that half a world away, someone was casting on... thus, I was compelled to follow suit. But, darnint, after the Argyle Hearts sizing disaster of Ravelympics 2010, I was going to do it RIGHT. I want to be able to wear this thing when I'm done with it!!

As there are limited options for patterns that will actually fit over my hips and understand that "big butt" doesn't mean "super-long arms", I'm getting pretty good at altering patterns to fit. So, first, I write out what the designer's sizing hints are in my "Naughty" notebook. (Hey, it was a dollar at Michael's before Christmas; I have a "Nice" one, too, but I didn't grab it when I needed something to scribble my Hello Kitty reverse pattern in. So, it's my knitting notebook now). Then, the joyous task of sizing myself, while wearing the clothes I'm going to wear under the hoodie, so the blasted thing will fit over them. This - not so fun.Then deciding which measurements can be kept honest (such as length of arms), and which should probably have more ease added. (Darn you, hips!)


Then, swatching. And measuring, and swatching again, and re-measuring, just to make sure. Looks like I get a gauge of 4.5 stitches per inch, and... and I hope I wrote down the row gauge somewhere. Anyway, once I know how many inches I'm gonna get, I can actually put the sweater on graph paper. This tells me that (a) I'm short waisted, (b) I'm going to be putting the kangaroo pocket a bit higher than "normal" for comfort and (c) six skeins of yarn should be Quite Enough. I'm doing it in a lovely chocolate brown color, rather than the green I'd originally intended, because the yarn called to me. (Yarn does that, you know.) Then there was casting on.

Sunday night, during the Oscars, I cast on and managed to knit 10 rows of twisted stockinette (not bad). Sadly, Monday, I discovered that I'd somehow managed to cast on an extra FORTY stitches. Frog, frog, frog went the pretty sweater beginning. (It'll at least be quicker to reknit those 10 rows with 400 less stitches, right?) Then there was the long-tail cast on, performed twice as a not-long-enough cast on, followed by a much-too-long-tail cast on, which I deemed was just fine by me.


Then there was the knitting eight rows, and discovering the danged thing was twisted - and I KNOW it wasn't at one point, so how the heck did this happen??


Eight rows it takes to notice the dang thing is twisted. Grrr.
So, it was all frogged AGAIN, and this time, screw it. I did a cable cast on (just not being up to Yet Another too not-enough or too-much long-tail cast on), and knitted the first row back across, so there's a DEFINITE direction the stitches should be if they're not twisted.


Then I carefully put the whole thing down on the counter, and got the stitches all going the way they should before starting the second row in the round:


No way will twisting happen AGAIN.
(And it didn't. You would've heard the screams.)
Let me add that two complete frogs and several partial frogs of this sweater has resulted in a pile of chocolate brown yarn that will be an absolute bear to untangle. (Note to self: Frogging after 10pm is like feeding Gremlins. You won't like what you find in the morning.) The upside of the frogging? I was actually able to "try on" my little knitted loop before frogging, and discovered I had VASTLY overestimated the ease needed for my hips, so the rows are now a good four inches shorter than they were originally. I don't need to be wearing a hooded cabled muu-muu. So, finally, by the end of lunch on Tuesday, I had a big loop of brown stitches. This bit of knitting has the following characteristics:

1. It's the right size. The schematic will be amended accordingly.
2. It's not twisted. This means I may actually be able to keep knitting right up to the armpits this time.
3. I now have so much invested in this hoodie that there's no way I'm not finishing it by the end of April (dammit).
4. I think it's secretly laughing at me.

Anyway, knitting recommenced during commutes and lunches throughout the week. As of this morning, here's where I am:


Look! You can see the pointy bits of the knotwork started!!
There's hope I'll finish someday. (And hopefully before the Celtic festival at the end of April!)

I dunno... what were *you* thinking?

Okay, everyone has one... that thing that you spend a lot of time lovingly knitting, possibly even designing, hours and hours getting it just right... to discover that it's very, VERY wrong. Here's mine:


Yeah, because I totally needed a short-sleeved bat-wing mock-turtleneck midriff-baring sweater made from eye-bleedingly odd acrylic. (Really, I thought I did. I even thought it looked cute, at one time, which it may have done - but not because of the sweater, that's for damnsure.) I'm not sure if anyone will want it, but I'm going to donate it just in case, as it's in very good condition, even if it is a mite ugly.

So, what's your "why did I knit this??" C'mon, you know you want to share.

(Does anyone know if a successor to You Knit What? has appeared?)

Save the Ears!!

I don't watch 24, but I found this a bit startling, looming out of the darkness of the train platform last night...



Thankfully, it seemed to be related to a lottery jackpot, rather than how many hours I had left on Earth.

This morning, it got cold enough to merit coat *and* sweater, so The Cat Sweater made its first foray into the wild:


Yay! Warm sweater, actually done about a year from when it was started, in time for Actual Cold! (We have actual cold in DC right now. I was wearing sweater, coat, hat, and thermal mittens. Some people were looking at me like I was crazy - but I was warm, and, unlike every single one of them, my ears and nose weren't red, and I didn't have my arms wrapped around myself as I hugged myself to keep warm.)

Exciting yarn news today: I found two patterns via Ravelry yesterday. Oh, my heavens. I must stitch up a Moss Stitch Beret. Of course, for the one I'll do, the ribbing will be a warm, nutty caramel brown, and the beret-part will be a nice, rich chocolate. Because then, after all this time, I will have - AN ACORN HAT!!! BWA-HA-Ha-hahahaha!!!

*ahem*

Here's the yarn I got for that:


... and here's the yarn I got to make a warm hat for my husband, who cannot presently find a hat that actually covers his ears:


Yes, the Karabella Supercashmere is still 50% off at Stitch DC Georgetown. I got the last two balls of Manly Dark Navy Blue Color. I'll be doing the Warm Ribbed Winter Hat by Lucy H. Lee, and I'll be doing it via STEALTH. I kept the yarn in my desk downtown, and snuck my size 3 DPNs out of the house this morning. I hope to present him with the hat by the weekend. (Yes, I know, I'm not supposed to start any new projects this year, and I've already started and finished a canvas piece this week. But his EARS are COLD. I cannot allow this to continue whilst it is within my powers to save him!)

The Cat Sweater: FINISHED!

So, the whole point of the Ravelympics is to get my UFO numbers down, down, down. I started the weekend with 62 UFOs, and ended the weekend with 61UFOs. To wit:


Me in my finished The Cat Sweater!

One side says "HERE"...	... the other says "KITTY KITTY"
Entire Sweater	Close-up of the super-adorable buttons I found

Yep, it's cute, it's lovely, and it's finished. I'm sending a picture to Crazy Aunt Purl, since it was her Cat Sweater Contest last fall that made me create this monster bit of machine-washable warmth. And it is warm; every stitch is effectively two strands of yarn deep, which is just wonderful. Plus the collar stands up nicely, always a plus. The temptation would be to make a nice little The Cat Hat to go with it... I spent most of the sweater worried I wasn't going to have enough yarn to finish it, but look:


Plenty of yarn left!


The Cat Sweater/Kitty Love
knitting, was 60%done
Lest you think I am not quite wonderful enough (because I'm sure as hell impressed with myself, that's a MAJOR UFO off the list!), allow me to let you view some more:


Yes, that's a finished A Pair of Hearts sock!
Boy, the sock went fast once I was past the trauma of the gusset. Which wasn't really all that traumatic: thanks to Donna at Random Knits for a nice, pain-free, panic-free pattern!

So, this leaves me with a sock, two sweaters, and a shawl to finish up in the few days left of these here Ravelympics.

So, the much shorter progress check:

1. The Stoplight Sweater. Not so bad. Realized the size 15 needles were NOT working for the sleeves, and had to rip out. Ended up going all the way down to 10.5s to get gauge - yay for my Boye interchangeable needles! Still have two sleeves and the zipper to install, but should go quickly now that it looks "right".
2. A Pair of Hearts Socks. See above. One down, one to go!
3. Titania. I pulled her out, figured out where the heck I was in the pattern, and got going. Since I'm doing both fronts at once, it's not too bad.
4. Forget-Me-Not Shawl. I swear, there's progress. Really. But the odds of this getting finished this week? Not so good.

Pretty good progress, right? I mean, that's a medal in WIP Wrestling, and I've got a good shot at one in the Sock Put - and, in case you missed it, the UFO Count is now at 61!!!

What happened to "10 days left..."?

Okay, how did it get to be Thursday already? I completely missed "10 days left" on my Ravelympics timer, somehow, and I *still* haven't seen (live) any of the women's Archery. Which sucks, because the semis and medal finals were today. Rats. But still: it's Thursday? I mean, really, I need more time to knit! I'm starting to burn out on The Cat Sweater a bit, but I really, REALLY want it done. Likewise, my eyes are starting to bleed a bit from the brilliant colors of the Titan Super-Bulky Yarn that has folded itself into the Stoplight Sweater... but I shall perservere. I will, however, be carrying around something just a wee bit lighter today and tomorrow, since my back is hurting me (probably from lugging The Cat Sweater and its attendant Pounds-O-Yarn around). So, spotlight on A Pair of Heart Socks for today, since tomorrow - Secret of the Stole III starts!! No, I haven't swatched for it... successfully. But I will. And it's entirely possible that I'll wait (*gasp!*) until after Ravelympics to start at all... but I want to start something!!! I know, I know, I have PADD. Anyway, I was talking about socks:

1. The Cat Sweater.I'm quite distressed that my two-color ribbing *really* didn't work. Mind you, it's the first time I'd ever tried such a thing, and I was winging it (why I did this when I actually have directions for doing so in my copy of Tudor Roses... which, WTF? It's selling for as much as $275 a copy??? Yikes! I'd better guard mine!!). Anyway, winged it, and it's loose and curly and I don't like the way it looks. So I decided to seam up the whole bottom ribbing after I finished the sleeves. Had to do it before I started the button band, of course. And have to do the button band before doing the neck/collar, if I want it to cross over. So, here's the before and after of the seaming, and proof that I actually have two finished sleeves.

   Before	After
   Two Sleeves!	Cast on button band, side one

2. A Pair of Hearts Socks. This is the carry-around today, so hopefully there will be actual progress pictures tomorrow.
3. The Stoplight Sweater. All the steeking is done, and we're down to sleeves, sleeves, and more sleeves. Or carefully sewing in the zipper so the pattern actually matches across the chest.

   Steeks done, Sleeve Cast On

4. Titania. Let's be honest. I'm not touching this sweater until one of the other two is actually completely done. I don't know what I was thinking, putting THREE sweaters into WIP Wrestling!
5. Forget-Me-Not Shawl. Wow, once you get to a certain point of a center-out shawl, it starts to go REALLY slow. Man. But at least I'm working on it a bit. No point in a photo; it still looks about the same as yesterday, despite two solid hours of knitting!

I'll probably be staying up far too late again tonight watching the Olympics - I was up until almost one on Tuesday and Wednesday. I can catch up on my sleep during the boring sports on the weekend, right? Oh, wait, there aren't really any boring sports, since I can knit during all of them (Except for swimming. Gotta watch the US guys swim, since if you blink, you'll miss them... or they'll be so far ahead of everyone else that they're not even in the same frame!).

Just over 11 days left...

Okay, much the Squee: Kathy of Knitting Out Loud will be at Stitches East! I am SO buying my own copy of "No Idle Hands" and "Knitting Lessons: Tales from the Knitter's Path"! I mean - listening to books about knitting whilst knitting? Bliss!!

In more personal knitting news (because that's why I'm doing this), while trying to stave off Rampant Startitis for just one more day, I examined at my Master List of UFOs. Looks like while I've started 29 new things this year, there are only *ten* that I haven't finished. That's a pretty good ratio for me! For right now, the UFO count is at 62; I did have to start my A Pair of Hearts Socks. Ravelympics, you know. I just *had* to start them. Thankfully, I think I'll be done with them on schedule.

Anyway, here's what happened Tuesday-into-Wednesday on the Ravelympics front:

1. Titania. Located. Re-printed pattern. Discovered I'm evidently knitting both fronts at the same time (remember, I'm modding her into a cardigan). Okay, I can do this! Just probably not this week.
2. The Stoplight Sweater. Haven't touched it since Monday. Still needs one sleeve steek sewn back, and one sleeve steek done entirely.
3. A Pair of Hearts Socks. Whups. Forgot about these. Must figure out where I left them Monday morning when I pulled them out of my Ravelry tote to stuff The Cat Sweater inside...
4. Forget Me Not Shawl. Cast on. Like three times. Why am I having such "fun" casting on lace lately? At least I found all my cool little markers. Turns out I needed 'em: I got through the ENTIRE FIRST REPEAT (!!!) up to my first lifeline! Woohooooo! Hot Pink Fuzzyness is HERE!
5. The Cat Sweater. Oh, I'm gonna finish this sucker this week. Just see if I don't!! Here's Tuesday morning (and a bonus shot of Knitting with George):

... and here's where I am on Wednesday morning!

So, I have the potential to finish at least *one* thing this week (it's looking like The Cat Sweater or the Stoplight Sweater). Maybe two (socks?). I started washing all the bedding just after five yesterday morning so I wouldn't have to come home and do it, and that mostly worked. I'm not quite coherent enough to knit just after I wake up, but laundry? No problem!

Now if I can just figure out how to pay bills and get exercise (without hurting myself physically or financially) while I'm asleep, I'll be all set.

Ravelympics, 11days, 21 or so hours left...

Note the cool Countdown Timer I snagged courtesy of AnnyPurls over on Ravelry. It's to the top-right of this here blog page. See? Wheee!

And yes, Cindy, I did actually sleep over the weekend. Most of Saturday during the day, in fact. (Because all the cool sports were on at, say, three a.m.) But I slept, I promise!!

Yesterday, I got to the slightly slow part of knitting: The not-knitting. Right now, it's all about the steeks. To get two of my older sweater UFOs done (wrestled? They are part of Ravelympics WIP Wrestling, after all), I need to steek one more front and three more sleeves. Thanks to my very patient husband taking me on an emergency Sunday-evening Walmart run (it's so odd that it's now "Walmart" instead of "Wal-Mart" - things change!), I have brown thread (The Cat Sweater steeks), green thread (Stoplight Sweater steeks) and red thread (Stoplight Sweater zipper), plus blue (red and blue needed to finish a small wall quilt that I'd like done SOON). I got a large spools of black and white thread, as well, since I don't seem to have any thread in my house of "normal" colors. Embroidery floss, sure, SCADS of that, but that's not so good for seaming things and quilting! ANY-way, back to the steeks. First, look what I finally found buried in a bag I *SWEAR* I checked at least three times previously:

Forget-Me-Not Shawl to Be

Next, The Cat Sweater:

Front steek, both sides finished, ready for button band
Sleeve steek all seamed, ready to cut, outside and in

Sleeve steek, cut

Sleeve steek sewn back

Sleeve cast on!

Now, the Stoplight Sweater:

Front steek, both sides finished, ready for zipper installation

One sleeve steek seamed and cut
Size 15 needles found, but may actually need 13s, which are AWOL
Now, if you're thinking that this is a LOT of progress that coudl've happened any time in the past, oh, four years (yes, I started the Stoplight Sweater in its present incarnation in 2004 - there were three incarnations before it that just didn't work), you'd be right. It's happening now because of the Ravelympics, and that's pretty much the only reason. Well, that and because it actually got CHILLY this weekend (!!), so having a cute sweater or two would be nice!