2022: Wk of June 19-25; FO and Schooner WIPS

SUMMER SHRUG

I did finish the shrug for my son’s girlfriend. We are both very happy with it. It will be perfect with a black dress she has that has similar color butterflies on the skirt portion. She says my son needs to take her out to dinner so she can wear it! This one really showed the benefit of wet blocking. Amazing how much more even my stitches look after blocking. I tried to only “aggressively” block the 2″ of lace trim so the shrug wouldn’t be too baggy. I suspect it will stretch during wear.

SCHOONER WIPS

I cast on a third WIP for my schooner trip. I wanted something on larger needles and an alternative to knitting socks. So I cast on a shrug for me. I just love this Madelinetosh single ply and this blue teal. It will be a lace pattern, Ladybird Shrug. It’s a free, easy pattern on Ravelry, only an 8 rows pattern (and the even rows are all purls). I think this will look nice with a summer dress I plan to wear to a friend’s daughter’s beach wedding in September. Also it should look nice with a wine color cami I never wear as I don’t like so much exposed skin on me. So hopefully I’ll get more wear out of the cami.

STEPHEN WEST SPIRALING CABLES SHAWL #2

Since my two sock WIPS and my shrug WIP are intended for schooner knitting, I needed to cast-on a project to work on for the next two weeks. Next up was either a Ranunculus for me or knitting a second Stephen West Spiraling Cables shawl that my step-daughter requested. I do want to make sure I have her shawl done by Oct 1 when it will start getting chilly here. Starting the Stephen West shawl won out. It is a fun knit so I’m happy to make a second. This time I’m using a very dark color for the cables. Sadly they don’t show as well. I do have some tan yarn that is closer to what I used for my shawl. But the dark yarn is much nicer alpaca yarn and will be much drapier so I really want to use it.

Having 5 WIPS would normally stress me out but since 3 were specifically cast-on for trip knitting I’m not stressing. I will definitely spend the time after the trip finishing any WIPS that didn’t get done as well as the Stephen West shawl before casting on any new projects.

ACQUISITIONS

I made it through the week without buying yarn!! Everybody seems to be doing summer sales but I am resisting. It helps that my new LYS owner told me she does a big sale starting July 1 with some yarns marked down 75%. I may have new yarn acquisitions in next week’s post. But I did end up buying more reusable project bag tags from Katrinkles. I really like having my bags labeled with what’s inside.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

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. I’ve been knitting for five years.

2022: Wk of June 12-18; Shrug and Socks Update

SUMMER SHRUG

I did end up frogging almost the entire shrug. I ripped it back to just the few lace rows so back to row 10. I like the small stripes much better than the big blocks although all the color changes makes the knit much slower as I have to tie magic knots every 2-3 rows.

SOCK TOES

Here are the toes for 2 pair of socks that are now in “time out” until I go on my trip in 3 weeks. The should make good schooner knitting.

NEW LYS

I did visit the yarn shop this week that is only slightly further away (3 minutes) than the yarn shop I have considered “my LYS” for the past 5 years. I was thrilled with it. While the shop is smaller, since it’s 100% yarn there is more yarn. And most important to me, the shop owner loves fingering weight yarns so there is LOTS. And she holds knit sessions Mondays at dinner, Tuesdays at lunch, and Thursdays in the afternoon. Turns out the owner lives only a few miles from me. Despite my excessive stash, I felt I couldn’t leave without buying something. I picked up some mohair as I want to knit the Love Note tee with some leftover ITO Shimo that I have. She also had a wonderful display of self striping sock yarn so I picked up a skein of bright summer colors. Since you are supposed to knit with yarn purchased at the shop for knit sessions, I’m now prepared should I chose to go. But at current gas prices, it’ll cost me $5 to make the trip so probably not. I’d rather spend the money on yarn.

SWIM SPA

After the disaster of our in ground pool last year, we purchased an above ground swim spa (you swim in place against jets of water). It arrived just a few days after my husband’s birthday so it was perfect timing. We had to hire a huge crane to lift the pool from the driveway down to the concrete pad next to our bedroom (house is built into the hill thus the bedrooms are on the lower floor). All the rain we’ve had allowed us to fill the pool. (We have a cistern so we live off rain water not municipal water.) My husband has already started swimming in it.

FRIENDS and FAMILY

This was a fantastic week for me with lots of reconnecting with friends and family. I had two lunch dates with friends I haven’t seen since last year. My niece was in town from Texas which made a nice excuse to get together with my father and brother. Plus I got to take her sight seeing in Cincinnati for a day.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

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. I’ve been knitting for five years.

2022: Wk of June 5-11; New WIP

Hello from rainy Cincinnati. My wish that June would bring clear skies was not to be. It was grey and drizzly for hubby’s birthday party but all had a good time anyway. I do treasure every time it is dry enough to enjoy our decks.

NEW WIP

I did finish the Quirky socks. So I got to cast-on a new project – my son’s girlfriend’s shawl. I’m knitting Summer Shrug by Dana Young. It’s a very basic pattern; 6 rows of “lace” (3 rows of YO, k2tog with a purl row between the YO rows) at the beginning, followed by 40″ of stockinette, finished with the 6 rows of “lace”. I really want to be complimentary of the pattern but I just can’t. I bought the pattern through Ravelry but if I had looked on her Etsy page I would have seen the criticism that it was pricey ($6) for an extremely basic pattern. On the other hand it’s only $6 so lets not nit pick. It’s knit flat as a long rectangle and then the edges are seamed for a few inches to create a slight sleeve. I’ve modified the pattern by putting I-cord edging for what will become the top and bottom edges of the shrug (thank you Steven West for teaching me this in your Spiraling Cables shawl). The only positive of the pattern as that she does provide mattress stitching instructions although I’ve learned from watching podcasts that I should use Bickford seaming for a more invisible seam.

I am using a skein of yarn that is basically a fade through 4 “yarns” that I got in a yarn swap. I cut the yarn into 4 balls since I want to have the second half match the first half. I will use half the mini ball before switching to the next color’s ball. The construction will mean the ‘stripes” will be vertical instead of horizontal. I found a mini that continues the fade if I need more yarn. Turns out I’m not liking the big blocks as stripes. I’m going to show it to my son’s girlfriend later today to get her thoughts both on the colors and the big blocks. It’s likely I’ll rip back to the “lace” and make much smaller stripes. This is a quick knit since it’s just stockinette. It’s a nice change to use a large needle, US 9, instead of the US 0 I use for socks.

WHAT’S UP NEXT??

I have the toes knitted up for one pair of socks to take on the Windjammer cruise I’m taking off the coast of Maine in 4 weeks but I want to take along a second pair as I expect to spend LOTS of time knitting on the boat. So I got the yarn divided in two and wound into balls. I’ll work on getting the toes knit up today. I’m going to use the Simple Spiral pattern as it’s supposed to be easy to memorize while having a slight lace to it.

Plus I really do need to watch the Patty Lyons Fix It video for brioche and work on my swatches. Guess the shrug will be hibernating for a few days.

ADVENT CALENDAR – ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!!

After sharing my 5 year stash plan last week, you would think that I’d be successful in resisting purchasing more yarn. But no. I watched a YouTube video of one of my favorite dyers, AGirlAndHerWool, this week. Wouldn’t you know she is offering a very good price on an advent calendar. Did I mention I’ve already purchased 2, count them 2, advent calendars? Supposedly one of the advent calendars I bought I’m putting away until 2023 so that means I only have one for 2022 right?? She offers 10g mini skeins so I bit and ordered one. I have no self control!! It really is an expensive way to buy yarn but I know I’ll enjoy the little surprises every day in December. 10g will be perfect for the Sea Glass Tee. Downside is I’m going to have to figure out how to store all these new minis.

KNIT IN PUBLIC

Yesterday was “Knit In Public Day”. World Wide Knit in Public Day was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes. It began as a way for knitters to come together and enjoy each other’s company since knitting is often a solitary craft. I’m trying to get a monthly knit session set up with knitters that I met at my LYS so we met yesterday at Panera. We got to “knit in public” and kick-off a monthly knitting group. It was nice to catch up with folks I haven’t seen in a year or more.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

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. I’ve been knitting for five years.

2022: Wk of May 29 – June 4; Stash Review, Sock and May Goal Status

STASH REVIEW

One of my 2022 goals was to review my stash to see how many projects I already had on hand and to establish a 5+ year plan. Well, I’m happy to say I’ve accomplished my goal. Unfortunately I do indeed have 5-6 years worth of project yarn (assumes 10 small/sock and 4 large/sweater per year) already on hand!!!!! Truthfully it’s slightly worse as it doesn’t count a sweater quantity of minis I already have on hand, baby yarn that was given to me in Florida, nor acrylic yarn I still have. Plus I will be receiving 2 plus sweater quantities of minis in December from the advent calendars I’ve already purchased. It’s a good thing I’ll be out of town for the local fiber festival in September this year. So far I’ve resisted purchasing more yarn and hope to maintain this resistance unless yarn is REALLY on sale (like half off). I have laid out a rough 5 year plan of socks, cowls, shrugs, tees, and sweaters although many projects don’t have a pattern picked yet. I crossed out acrylic yarns that I will probably donate rather than use.

5 YEAR STASH PLAN

QUIRKY SOCKS – Almost FO

I made progress on my self striping socks this week. Not quite an FO yet but will be finished in the next couple of days. One sock is ready for the cuff. The second sock will be ready for the cuff by the end of today so should be done Monday or Tuesday.

MAY GOAL UPDATE

As noted above, I did complete a 2022 goal of reviewing my stash and created a rough multiyear knitting plan. May was a rough month for actual knitting. With the wedding and lawn care my daily stitches did not meet my goal of 1800 stitches per day although I’m still averaging more than 1800 per day for the year to date. I’m looking forward to getting back on track in June. I can’t wait to cast on a colorful shawl for my son’s girlfriend once the Quirky socks are finished. Also, I need to get back to working on my Brioche class.

SUMMER KNITTING

I’ve got my deck knitting “nook” set up. I’m looking forward to spending some afternoons enjoying the nice weather assuming it finally stops raining!! We had twice the normal rainfall in May but I think we are supposed to get back to “normal” in June. We finally planted flowers and tomatoes this past weekend.

Deck Umbrella with Netting

We have been enjoying dinners on our upper deck. I just love June in Ohio. It’s before the humidity and bugs hit for the summer.

Upper Deck

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

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.