Friday Finish and an WIP

Everything is in one post this week. A beautiful finish. The project I've been focusing on this week. And a lovely surprise at the end.

Finished my Bampton Cowl last week. Took pictures last weekend in the snow. Most of the snow melted during the week but we're supposed to get a lot more this weekend. Should be fun.

A nice size. I don't really like cowls that go around twice. This cowl is made with sport weight yarn (leftover from my Branches and Buds Pullover). I still have some of this creamy/beige left.

Stretches out nice.

Looks amazing after blocking.

And I've been trying to get my Spotlight sweater done for tomorrow. The yarn is Feisty Fibres and the dyer of the yarn is in town tonight and tomorrow (doing a trunk show at my work). I would love to have it done but I don't think that's going to happen. Unless I skip sleeping tonight.

And I was surprised with flowers this morning. It's our 16th anniversary today, and even though my husband is currently living in England, he sent me these. And they smell great. 

Life Update

Things have been quiet here on the blog, but they haven't been in my day-to-day life. On October 10th, I started work... at a yarn store... part-time. So far, I have resisted buying anything but the wishlist of what I'd like to buy is very long in my head. Needless to say, the blog is going to suffer (something had to give, right?) but I'll still do a couple posts a month with what I'm working on or when I have something finished to share. I have several items on the needles (5, I think) but I've been focusing on two. Now that I have somewhere nice to wear all my knits to, a place where they're really appreciated, I want to get all the projects done so I can wear them to work. Here's a little update of what I've been working on.

I have one more increase row to do on my Lifesavers cardigan. Then I have to knit several inches to get to the ribbing at the bottom. Then sleeves. Think I might leave out the buttonholes when I do the edging at the end. Maybe. We'll see.

This is new to the blog. It's the Bampton cowl. I made the shawl this summer but I bought a new dress for work and I didn't really have any knits done that went with it, so... I cast on this cowl. I had a full skein of the creamy beige colour leftover from my Branches and Buds pullover, almost like it was meant to be. 

And I finished the test-knit cowl I was knitting. Still can't show pictures here yet, but thought I'd show you what was left of the yarn. And yes, I already have plans for it, too. 

First day of work. Wore my Fogliame cardigan. Have worn a different knit every work day. Trying to wear everything I have once before I repeat myself. So far I have worn my Fogliame cardigan, Branches and Buds pullover, Sun Rose sweater, Low-Tide cardigan, Prairie Hills shawl and test-knit cowl. Counted this morning and I have at least enough knits for 15 more work days before I will repeat myself. Fun times.

I finished this embroidery this week. For the third time. Yes, I have stitched this twice, didn't like it and ripped it out. First time I stitched each square a different colour. Second time I used white and some pink. This was part of the Super Stitcher's Club by Studio MME

This time I used green, yellow and white. Like this combination. Now I need to iron it. Think it will become a hot pad for under a teapot.

And I did some little cross-stitches in September. Still waiting to be ironed and framed. The small one will become a necklace (part of a kit from Jo-Ann's). The poop was a gift from one of son's last month for my birthday. Got to love him.

And now that I've blogged, I can think about which shawl I'm going to wear to work tomorrow. Going to be wearing black clothes. Any thoughts which one I should wear? They are Zuzu, Hogmanay and Lokum.

WIP Wednesday

We are back home from our trip north to visit family (finally). We were suppose to arrive home last Monday, but 30 minutes into our drive home, our car died. Spent another 2 days with my parents before they drove us back to Michigan last Wednesday. They stayed another day so we could get groceries and do errands that are easier with wheels but it's been an adjustment. We're waiting until we find out where my husband's new job is before we buy or rent a car. Hoping we might find out in the next couple weeks.

What I'm trying to remember about our trip is the date night my husband and I had on our last Saturday night there. We went out for dinner and then hiked around some falls that neither of us had been to in over 15 years. It was great to spend some time alone and in nature. Totally worth all the mosquito bites I got. We even sneaked down to a ledge at the top of the falls and sat in silence - except for the roar of the water. Best date we ever had.

I did try to do a WIP post last week but life... it gets in the way sometimes. Last Wednesday, I was done both sleeves and the body of my Old Growth cardigan (and July Camp Loopy project). I had joined the sleeves and body of the cardigan and was ready to knit the yoke.

Today, the knitting is all done. Finished the buttonhole band yesterday, after 5 attempts. All that's left is to graft the underarm stitches, weave in ends, sew on buttons and block. Seems like a lot but shouldn't take too long. Maybe two episodes of Buffy?

Made a little progress on my Hello, Hello shawl. Finished the eyelet section and halfway done the stripes.

Closer look. 

I was able to pick up a little yarn while we were away. Trying to decide what to make with this lovely gradient my mom treated me to. Local yarn store is Stix and Stones. Highly recommend a visit if you ever get that far north. They specialize in Canadian yarns so it's always neat to look around.

And only my fellow Canadians will realize how cool/rare this yarn is. Found it at Value Village. Zellers was kind of the Canadian version of Target but with a decent craft section - I bought most of my craft supplies there when I was teenager and in my early 20's. They all closed and became Targets, years and years ago, and then closed again. Thrilled that I found enough of it to make something. I'm thinking a Kelsey cowl. Or maybe a Legume hat.

Got to love this 1 year warranty by Monsanto. 

What have you been up to the past couple weeks?

What happened in April?

The blog was a little quiet last month. I'm kind of sorry, and kind of not. Life wasn't extra crazy and we weren't sick, but I put my focus towards something else for April. My writing. April is one of the Camp NaNoWriMo months. Writers can pick what they want to write and their word goal. You can write scripts, non-fiction, poetry. Or you can do what I did, which was edit. I gave myself the goal of editing and moving 60,000 words from a first draft into a second. I ended up having to rewrite several chapters so I probably ended up writing 30,000 words and editing 30,000. 

Yep, I did it. Finished just before 10 last night. I spent most of the weekend at my computer as I was about 11,000 words shy of my goal on Friday. A lot of new chapters, for the new ending, were written on Saturday and Sunday, and a lot of it wasn't very good. But now that the words are written down, I can edit them and make them better. In February, I started editing the first draft and I'd send a couple chapters a week to my sister-in-law to read. By the end of March I only had 11 of 30+ chapters done. It was taking too long and I'd lose momentum if I didn't edit everyday. So I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, hoping I'd finish and I did. And I'm pretty thrilled about finishing. Winning for editing feels a lot better than winning for writing 50,000 words in November. I'll be rereading the whole thing starting Wednesday and then I'll be sending it out to some Beta-readers next week. Kind of scary but necessary. May's focus? Catching up on all the knitting and quilting that was ignored in April and researching agents and publishers to send my manuscript too (that's super scary). First up - this blog post and then mending my husband's shorts that have been sitting beside my sewing machine for two weeks.

I finished crocheting this afghan in April. (Ignore my face, I was probably yelling at the 3 year old who was outside with us and getting into trouble.) I used all 9 skeins of yarn I had and then did 3 rounds in blue for a border. Yarn was some acrylic stuff from Michael's that is perfect for afghans. It should hold up really well. And after washing became surprisingly soft.

Feels great wrapped around shoulders.

Got to love how colorful it is.

Back inside the 3 year old and I made sure it was good for snuggling under. It passed. The afghan will be a Christmas gift this year.

Other things that happened in April? My daughter and I marched for Science.

I crocheted a ton of button flowers. There are 72 in this picture if you're looking for an exact number. Only have 12 left to make!

And I have been slowly knitting my Duvessa cowlette. The KAL for this ends on Thursday so I have some knitting to do.

I'm halfway done chart A. Still need to knit charts B and C. So I will be doing that today and tomorrow.

I have several pictures waiting to get posted that I hope to do this week and next. It would be nice to feel caught up (does that ever really happen though?).What have you been up to?

A WIP Post

Oops, I didn't mean to go two weeks without posting. I took pictures to share and then... didn't. It's been hard living in the states the past two weeks and it's been difficult to do anything that seems like fun. Our time and energy are really needed elsewhere, but we all need to take some time for self-care every day. Or we'll go a little nuts. So here is how I've been taking care of myself the past couple weeks.

I started socks for my sister's birthday later this month. I cast on this Sunday and finished the first sock in 3 days. This picture was taken yesterday morning. Then I spent four hours at my son's school for a fundraiser and was able to knit almost half the leg. I didn't bother to take another picture so you'll have to take my word for it. Plain sock with a Fish Lips Kiss heel. For some whimsy, I started one sock from the outside of the skein, the other from the inside, so the stripes will reverse. Kroy sock yarn.

I did a few more pattern repeats of the first Run Around Mitten (also for my sister's birthday - damn, she's pretty lucky). Almost time to add the thumb. Yarn is Lorna's Laces and is discontinued.

And a few more repeats of the Hogmanay shawl have been done too. 

There is a neat lace pattern in there that will blossom with blocking. I hope. Links and info about yarn is on my project page.

And the afghan is getting bigger. This was near the end of the third skein. I just started the fourth. 

Love how colourful this is.

And my other WIP was to tackle my desk. I was beginning to wonder why I was getting nothing done. So many stacks of stuff. 

Got through it all today and am much happier. Now the stacks are organized. Books I'm reading are furthest to the right, nearest to the couch so they are easy to grab. A small pile of writing  books beside them. To the left of my computer, are my notes for the novel I'm editing and a notebook to write down other ideas. Beside it is a pile of fabric that I pulled and set aside a couple weeks ago. The green bin in the back - beside my sewing machine that has been covered for all of 2017! - is fabric for Sarah Fielke's 2017 BOM. The first clue was released this week. One of the motivations to clean my desk was so I could start working on it.

What have you been working on?

WIP Wednesday

I only have one WIP to share today because there is only one WIP that matters.

In my lap is my third pussyhat. I need to make one more as my best friend and I will be taking our teenage daughters to the local Women's March this Saturday. I think this is the first protest march I've ever participated in and I'm a little a nervous. But if not now, when?

Read more about the Women's March here.

Read more about the Pussyhat Project here - includes free knit and crochet patterns. Plus there are several patterns on ravelry but you might have trouble finding pink yarn in stores.

Want to March on Saturday? Here is a link to all the Marches happening. Maybe there is one near you. 

The pattern I'm using is from someone on instagram. I can't remember who, sorry. But here is what I'm doing if you're interested in making your own. 

Using size 6/4mm needles and worsted weight yarn, cast on 96 stitches. Join in the round. Knit 20 rounds of k2,p2 ribbing. 

Switch to size 8/5mm needles and knit every round until hat measures 8 inches from cast on. Turn hat inside out and do a three needle bind off. Weave in ends, turn right side out and wear it proud.

And I'm also pledging to keep wearing my pussyhat, as long as he is in power... and the weather is cold. Might need to get some fingering weight pink yarn to make myself a pussyhat for the spring/fall. I'd hate to go to a thrift shop in a month and see a ton of pussyhats there, so please, keep wearing yours as a sign that this is not normal. He is not a legitimate president. It's going to take more than one march. Resist.

WIP Wednesday

Wow, I really fell off the blogging train at the end of last year, didn't I? Well, I'm not making any promises to be a better blogger this year. In fact, I'll probably be blogging less. I hope to continue with WIP Wednesday's as I like looking back at my own progress and I'll do the occasional Friday Finish post when I have something to share but that's it. I have a couple other posts planned for this month too, to wrap things up, but then I'll be posting only once or twice a week by February. This year will be a year of change for our family. My husband's contract at his current job ends this summer, which means he's on the hunt for a new one (anyone looking for an Evolutionary Biologist?), which will lead to us moving somewhere else this summer. 

And I'm really committing to my career as a writer this year. I continued my research over the holidays about creating a website and think I have it decided. Now I need to buy a domain and a website hosting plan. And I plan on doing it this week, which means my computer time will become making a website time for the next couple months while I figure it out. I'm in no rush to get a site up and running so I'll be taking my time making sure the website really reflects me and what I want to share. I'm thinking I might add a writing blog to my life as well (because 2 blogs aren't enough for me? - I also have a family only blog besides this crafty one). 

Even my What I've Been Reading posts kind of disappeared at the end of 2016. Mainly because I hardly read anything the past few months. I think I have 3 books I haven't shared here but I've already finished my first book of 2017 so perhaps I need to do a post soon. However, I spent hours yesterday moving my What I've Read archives into Goodreads. I really enjoy stats and I like comparing the number of books and pages I've read over the past 5 years. You can find me here on Goodreads and here's my stats page (which I adore). Are you on Goodreads? Even though I joined a couple years ago, I haven't really used it, so advice welcome. And I joined the 2017 challenge - I'd like to read 30 books this year, which is low for me, but I think doable since I know we're moving.

And now for what you're really here for, crafty WIP's. I have lots to share today. And several finishes that I still need to share from the holidays. I forgot to take pictures of some - mom, I need a picture of the socks I made you! Anyway, here's what I'm working on.

If I was following the pattern exactly, this shawl would be finished. However, looking at other people's projects on ravelry, I came across one that continued the edging up the side that should be bound off. I looked at her notes and asked for her to expand on how she did it but this morning I decided to find my own way. Can you see the slight curve beginning at the point? I've only done two pattern repeats so far that decreases one stitch every two rows. This might take a while but I've got plenty of yarn. Hope I love it when I'm done.

And I picked up a lot of this colorful yarn during the after Christmas sale at Michael's to crochet an afghan. I've been itching to make one. And as of right now, this is suppose to be a gift for next Christmas. I have over 2,000 yards. That should be enough, right? Pattern is from this book and can be found here.

On the ride home I finally cast on Hogmanay. I've been waiting to start this shawl for months. I got this yarn as part of the giftables club from The Loopy Ewe, fall of 2015, and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was meant to be a Hogmanay shawl. Maybe because the yarn is similar to the one on the ravelry page? I don't know. I haven't done much yet but I'm looking forward to working on it more this month.

My mother asked me to help her with a crazy project. She has a store-bought comforter whose batting is starting to bunch. She wants to tie the quilt with buttons to help the batting stay in place, but she wants some of the buttons to become crocheted flowers like this Pin she saw on Pinterest. However, she doesn't crochet. But I do. She bought 2 packages of yellow buttons and some grey buttons and we picked up some floss and I gave her some floss from my stash and I crocheted a bunch of flowers with that really tiny hook while I was home for Christmas. I made her 34 (sorry no pictures, maybe you can take a picture of them, too, mom?). Then she placed them on the comforter and I realized she needs about 80 more. Yikes. So a package of buttons and the floss and the hook came home with me and now I have another WIP. I need to find some more grey buttons (I found 8 in my stash when I got home, mom!) and buy more floss but this should be a fun little project to work on over the next couple months.

Oh, and these are the buttons I took from my mother's button stash as payment. And yeah, I'll give you that yellow one back, mom.

I also started the December embroidery pattern by Sarah K. Benning once all the gift making was done. Still have lots to stitch but I'm really enjoying it.

And my awesome sister-in-law gifted me this project bag for Christmas. The teeny, tiny needles blew my mind. I love it, Michelle. And it's so big, I can fit 4 different projects in it. Great for car trips since the zipper at the top stops things from falling out and going everywhere.

What have you been working on? 

WIP Wednesday - 2 Weeks Worth

     Last week was a little stressful and busy, and some things, like blogging, got ignored. My mother had surgery last week. She is doing well now and is back home. Good news is what they thought was cancer, isn't. Now she's learning how to live with part of her lung removed while doctors figure out exactly what the growth in her lung was. I've been very happy to have knitting and other crafts to help distract me while I sat at home waiting to hear news about my mom. It was really nice talking to her yesterday for about 30 minutes, laughing and catching up (i.e. complaining about the kids), knowing she was finally healing.

     Anyway, I took pictures to post for WIP Wednesday last week, but just didn't get them posted. Thought I'd include them in this week's post.

     By last Wednesday I had finished the first clue of the MKAL that Jen is doing. A nice, simple, straight forward clue.

     By this Wednesday I had the second clue complete. It's best seen in close ups as the leaves tend to curl up when I lay it out flat. There are 25 leaves, each knit individually so there are a lot of ends to weave in. I also started Clue 3 last night (not seen above) which is really neat.

     Floyd had turned the flash on, without my knowing, before I took this photo. Think it kind of helped see the pattern. This should look awesome after blocking.

      Last Wednesday, I was done the leg and heel and was working on the foot of a sock. I finished knitting the foot and started the toe decreases during the final debate last Wednesday. 

     Thursday, I finished the sock. I cast on the second sock this weekend. It's been going a little slower. I did my first Fish Lips Kiss heel with this sock and I'm wondering what took me so long. Love it. It's also my first time using 2.25mm needles and 72 stitches for a sock. 

     Last week I felt like crocheting so I got out the yarn to make more snowflakes. I now have 12 of 22 made. I think I need to decide what fabric these snowflakes will go on. That might help me get motivated to finish them up. And weave in all those ends.

     And this week, when I haven't been working on the MKAL shawl or the sock, I've been working on this shawl. It's kind of close to being done; you just knit until you run out of yarn or like the length. I think I'm going to make it a bit bigger. Sorry for the crappy location for the picture. It is rainy and overcast today and this was the only spot in the whole house with any decent light.

What have you been working on this week?

I have 4 finishes to share. I'll probably share a couple on Friday, but not all as some are gifts. I know I still need to take pictures of one so I hope it stops raining soon.