2022: Wk of Jan 23 – 30; New Cast-on, Yarn Mail, and Frustrating Fix

SPIRALING CABLES SHAWL – OOPS!

Sadly, this was a frustrating week. Seems that while knitting my Spiraling Cables Stephen West shawl, I made a mistake and purled one row instead of knitting it. Sadly I didn’t find the mistake until I had knit 12 more rows. I had to dig down 12 rows for an entire row to correct each stitch.

Oops, Contrast color is supposed to be a garter stripe

This was a very slow process so I didn’t meet my goal of 1800 stitches for most of the days this week. Fortunately I’ve had enough “good” days that my monthly average is still above 1800 stitches per day. I do really like the shawl and I’m looking forward to more of the colors showing as I work through my multi-color contrast yarn. I’m almost halfway done so I’ll be starting the “trellis” portion soon.

Spiraling Cables – 1/2 done

HUBBY’S HANSTHOLM SWEATER

The extra work on the Spiraling Cables Shawl means starting hubby’s sweater got delayed. I’m excited that it’s a “new to me” designer. While not specifically spelled out in my goals, trying patterns from “new to me” designers is indeed part of my goals. I finally cast-on yesterday so I’m only on the collar. This will be my first folded over collar. I didn’t swatch since I’ve made two sweaters already from the yarn. Have to admit that I don’t really like the “fabric” of my Shellseeker I made last year with the yarn. I used a US8 needle as I wanted a more open fabric so I could wear it in Florida. My daughter’s Shellseeker was made with a US4. I’m compromising and using a US6. I will determine the gauge and then adjust the pattern based on my gauge. As long as the collar is big enough to get over my husband’s head, I should be fine since the sweater is a simple stockinette raglan. Head fit I’ll be able to check this week.

Second 2022 Cast-On!!

YARN MAIL

My new “walking sock” yarn arrived. One set is supposed to be Christmas-ish called Holidaze and the other set is just summery colors. I will be casting on a new pair on Feb 1 so that I’ll have a project for various monthly sock KALs. I’m down to just the cuffs on my current socks so they will definitely an FO in next week’s blog. My extra yarn for the Spiraling Cables Shawl arrived. I have a feeling I won’t need the extra yarn. Oh well. I think I may make the Ranunculus top with it instead. Or at least some tee pattern. I love the autumn/campfire colors.

1 MONTH IN

One month into my new year of knitting goals, I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve completed 2 carryover WIPs and should have a third done within the next day. Plus I’ve gotten started my first new 2022 project. My yarn in/out is out of balance but that’s because I’ve been “gifted” some baby yarns from my Florida knitters. Hard to say no to free yarn. My daily knitting goal is going ok. I’m happy that I’m using Knit Companion more this year even though that wasn’t on my list of goals. I’m looking forward to completing, or modifying, my goals as the year progresses. This what my daily tracking looks like.

Hope you have a great crafting week.

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 11th year. It’s my second in the group.

Advertisement

2022: Wk of Jan 16-22; Yarn Buying and FOs!!!

LET THE YARN BUYING BEGIN

As mentioned last week, I’ve barely made it into the new year before I started adding to my already sizable stash. Then I realized I should have ordered more!! So let me take just a moment to compliment WEBS customer service. I ordered more Cascade Fixation yarn to use for my “walking” sock projects late Saturday night. Duh!! I completely forgot that I needed more contrast yarn for my Stephen West shawl. I had delayed ordering it till after the new year to be sure I liked the shawl!! Thankfully nothing had happened on the order yet so I was able to contact WEBS customer service first thing Monday morning and get the 2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden Sock added. Extra bonus, now I don’t even have to pay shipping since the new order exceeded the minimum order. So excited about new yarn arriving!!

SOCK FO!!

First FO!!! Well, it is a carryover WIP so not as impressive but still happy to have a finished pair of socks. I love them. This will count as my January sock pair for my goal of a pair of socks per month. I can’t wait to cast-on the leftover yarn for another pair of socks. They will be gifted to someone. But I will wait a bit to do that.

I have another set of yarn that I am looking forward to casting on for a pair of socks. I’m making myself wait till Feb 1 as there are a number of KALs I can join if I start and finish my socks within the month. It’s not like I don’t have anything else to work on.

FO #2!! HELDIG TANK TOP FINISHED!!

Whew, I also got my daughter-in-law’s tank top finished as well!! Again, another carryover project from 2021 but still feels good to complete it. I’m counting it as finished even thought it’s currently being blocked and I still have to weave in some ends. I will be mailing it to her this week. That way if it doesn’t fit, we can get together so I can make changes before we head back north in 2 months.

This week I’ll finally cast-on a sweater for my husband. I will get to use the Summer Silk yarn that I love. I’m searching through Ravelry to find a pattern. Leaning towards Hanstholm by Petite Knits as the yarn is DK.

SPIRALING CABLES SHAWL

There was no progress on the Stephen West shawl this past week. I lost my last cable needle the previous week. My new cable needles finally arrived so I will be working on the shawl today. I could have tried harder to find something to substitute as a cable needle but instead I focused on the FOs above and waited for the new cable needles to arrive.

That’s it for this week. I’m excited to have some FOs but I’m also looking forward to working on the Stephen West shawl already on my needles and the sweater I’ll be casting on. They are both big projects so it will take quite a while before either is an FO.

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 11th year. It’s my second in the group.

2022: Wk of Jan 9-15; WIPs Update

TENNARISUKKA SOCKS

Made good progress on my Tennarisukka socks. I just love the bright colorful yarns. I’ve completed the heels and I’m working up the legs so I believe I may have an FO next week!! I plan to use both the toe and heel colors as stripes on the cuff. I’ve put the two socks back on a large circular needle so I can’t knit them 2 at a time. I want the pattern to match as I go up the legs. I made a mistake in the pattern on the foot which won’t be noticeable with shoes on. I don’t want to make a mistake on the leg since it will be more visible. Can’t wait to get to wear them.

WALKING SOCKS

The vanilla “walking” socks are coming along. I got the heel on one and only have a few more rows on the second sock before needing to make its’ heel. The heel really isn’t conducive to knit while walking so I got it done Saturday afternoon sitting on the lanai.

The decision to have “walking’ socks though has promoted the need to buy more Fixation yarn. Since I’m still learning, the thicker, spandex yarn is much easier to knit without looking. I didn’t bring enough Fixation yarn from home for these “walking” projects so I “had” to order more Fixation yarn. Since yarn shops are not plentiful in SW Florida, I figured the $5 shipping was cheaper than the gas to visit the nearest yarn shop. I happily have some fun colors on the way!!

GOALS, SMOLES

See, two weeks into the year and my knitting projects are already changing!! Fortunately it does not affect my knitting goal of a pair of socks per month. Goals definitely work better than projects if I want to check off completions.

HELDIG TANK TOP AND SPIRALING CABLES SHAWL

Neither the Heldig Tank nor the Stephen West Cables Shawl got much attention this week so no picture update. I will be working on the tank today. It needs some concentration time as I’m spitting the front into the right and left sides. Seems I was always watching TV this past week so I need the more mindless knitting of my socks. I will get back to getting the top done as I’m in the home stretch! I lost my last cable needle Tuesday which is why the shawl is on hold. I ordered more but they won’t arrive until this Wednesday. I could use a paper clip if I had one. Not a big deal since there is no timetable that the shawl needs to be done by.

SNOWBIRD RENTING

Some of my time this past week has been focused on finding a new condo in Florida for snowbirding. Sadly this is the second time in three years that the owner of our rental condo has decided to retire requiring us to find a new rental. Fortunately we have a lead for a rental condo in the complex for next year so fingers crossed. Not as nice as the one we are currently in but still nice. The long term plan is likely to buy a home/condo but we’d like to put it off at least several years. Hubby wants to move to Florida for it’s zero income tax as well as hot weather. Apparently, so does everyone else!!

Hope you had a great crafting week. Maybe an FO or two in next week’s post!! I love this t-shirt my daughter-in-law gave me for Christmas. It’s so true.

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 11th year. It’s my second in the group.

2022: Wk of Jan 2 – 8; Carryover WIPs and New Year’s Day Cast-on

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Hope your new year is off to a great start. Have to admit, seeing those pictures of snarled traffic in the snow makes me especially glad to be in SW Florida. My housesitting son called to say a small tree fell across the driveway but fortunately he was able to use a chain saw to cut it in half and pull the pieces to the sides of the driveway.

SPIRALING CABLES SHAWL – Stephen West

I love the boldness of Stephen West shawls so I’ve wanted to knit one for a while. The perfect “storm” came together with Christmas yarn gifted from my daughter that I didn’t know what to do with, my new local knitting group knitting the Stephen West Spiraling Cables Shawl, and a favorite podcast, Frivolous and Frugal, starting a Stephen West cast-on “party zoom” on New Year’s Day. So while home at Christmas I grabbed a skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock that I thought would pair nicely with the Alpaca Plymouth Christmas yarn, and brought it back to Florida for the New Year’s Day cast-on. I’m not very far along since I have other projects that NEED to get finished but here’s what I have so far. The long run of colors means you can’t see much color yet but as the shawl gets wider it will get more colorful. It is going to be a very heavy shawl even though I’m using thinner yarn and bigger needles than called for. I hope I’ll be able to get some use of it in the spring or fall back in Ohio. I do work on this some every day or two so that I don’t have to relearn how to do the pattern. It’s very simple but still, I know myself.

HELDIG TANK TOP

Good progress on the Heldig Tank Top for my daughter-in-law. I have a bad habit of making changes to patterns without understanding the consequences. I decided to do some waist and bust shaping which resulted in being WAY off on the stitches needed for separating to make the front and back yoke sections. So I’m making more modifications. Hopefully it will look okay when finished. If not – rip it!! I’m now knitting the front yoke.

TENNARISUKKA SOCKS

These are not getting a lot of attention as I need to get that tank top off my needles. I do hope to get them done by the end of the month for my sock per month goal. I do want to make the “leg” portion longer so that they show above my tennis shoes. I hate making cute socks only to have my shoes hide them. So they definitely need to go above my ankles a little more.

‘

“WALKING SOCKS”

Well ….. the walking while knitting is going great. The not looking while walking, not so much. I do enjoy knitting on the socks while walking in the mornings with my hubby. Two birds with one stone – exercise and knitting. But I just can’t get comfortable yet with not looking at my stitches on almost every stitch. But then, this was a goal for the year so I have 12 months to work on it!!

BABY BLANKET

Yes, technically I have a 5th WIP. That’s the baby blanket for my niece that I’m honestly not motivated to make. The baby is due in March. Blankets take sooooo long!!! Not sure what I’m going to do about this WIP. For now it sleeps (like a baby 😉 ).

Hope 2022 is going well for you. I also want to acknowledge my father turning 93 yesterday!! Sure hope I’m as healthy and capable as he is at 93. I gave him the book to fill out to pass on to the kids and grandkids.

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 11th year. It’s my second in the group.

2022 Knitting Plan – Here We Go!!

Happy 2022!! It’s a new year so it’s a new set of projects and goals. I think I may be a bit too ambitious with the number of projects even though “technically” I should be able to complete them based on stitch count. I just have to meet my new goal for increased daily stitch count. Yeah, right. I promise to “learn” from my ambitious goals rather than “berate”.

PROJECT PLANS

My 2022 project plan calls for 22 projects!! Granted half of these are socks/shrugs but I’m a distracted knitter. Knit a pair of socks in a weekend. Are you kidding me??!! My goal of a pair of socks or a shrug a month while also knitting sweaters is super aggressive for me. So here’s the plan.

Socks: 8-10 pairs
Shrug/Cowl: 2-3
Sweater/Top/Shawl: 5-6
WIPs: 4 (A top, 2 pairs of socks, and a baby blanket.)
Advent: 2
These are more iffy projects. Do an advent mini skein project (one of my sweaters??) and make some knitted Christmas tree ornaments. I won’t be upset if I decide not to knit either of these.

My planned timing of these projects is my blog feature image. It’s always good for a laugh as reality sets in and projects don’t get started or finished anywhere near when I planned them. I think I will participate in DudeKnits Lucky Dip Stash Buster for my socks/shrugs thus the timing will be random. The idea is to wrap up 12 skeins from your stash to knit one skein projects then pick one randomly at the first of the month for that month’s project. This fits nicely with my goal of a pair of socks or shrug each month.

KNITTING GOALS

I’m starting off the year with 20 for 2022 Goals. This is a lot of goals so like last year I don’t expect to accomplish them all. The big one is upping my daily stitch count so that I can accomplish more projects. This will require spending less time going down rabbit holes on the internet. Only time will tell. I definitely want to keep knitting fun and not “a job”.

1	Aver 1800+ stitches per day each month
2	Make something Brioche (Newspaper Sweater)
3	Knit something all Continental
4	Yarn Out > Yarn In by 600 gr
5	Make something with colorwork (Clifton Crop Sweater)
6	Review stash- queue into projects on hand
7	Knit Baby Sweater
8	Knit JoJi Pattern (Newspaper Sweater)
9	Calc estimated stitches when start project
10	Learn crochet – make baby blanket
11	Make Emma Pattern (Clifton Crop Sweater)
12	Learn to knit without looking
13	Get mini skein Advent Calendar and knit Dec project
14	Sew Charlie Harper Fabric Project Bag
15	Knit animal toy
16	Knit a pair of socks/shrug per month
17	Make Stephen West Shawl (Spiraling Cables Triangle)
18	Learn new technique – Portuguese Knitting
19	Track days worked on project
20	Girl’s Knitting Trip (Maryland Wool, Michigan Wool, Yarn Crawl) ???

KNITTING TRACKING

Here’s a snapshot of my digital knitting calendar with my 4 carryover WIPS and my New Year’s Day Cast-on. 5 projects on needles is very stressful for me although I have to admit when doing MANY rows of stockinette for a sweater/top body it sure is nice to switch to another project briefly for some variety. My new knitting group in Florida is knitting the Stephen West Spiraling Cables Triangle Shawl and I wanted to join in. I’ll be focusing most of my time on the Heldig top to get it finished as well as a pair of socks. This year I have added a way to count the number of days I actually work on a project versus just the project start and finish dates. My knitting calendar will track 1) yarn in/yarn out, 2) daily stitches knit as well as total stitches for the month and year (with graphs of course), 3) average daily stitches for the month and year, and 4) days a project was knitted on. Kath of Backstage Knits will like that I use conditional formatting so that if I hit my goal of 1800+ stitches the count box is green but if it’s less than 1800 stitches the count box is pink.

JANUARY 2022

Here’s to 2022!! It’s going to be a great year knitting and otherwise. 🙂 I look forward to reading others goals. I frequently change mine over the first few months or save for next year.

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 11th year. It’s my second in the group.