Ravellenic Games are done

Once again, I didn't finish in time. My goal was 24 squares on my sock yarn blanket (1 row). I had 1.5 squares to go at 5:59pm, the deadline. I finished at 6:38pm.

The finished row:

I don't know if you can see it or not, but I used one of the wonderful mini skeins that I got from my friend Joani in a Christmas in July exchange for the first square of the row. :D

Here's to next year!

Um, blanket Sunday on a Tuesday. Or something like that.

I think I mentioned on here that I'm working 2 jobs now (we're trying to pay off our debt so we can buy a house in the next few years). Working 70hrs/week doesn't leave me a whole lot of time for the blanket, unfortunately. I should be doing 2 squares per day; instead, I've done 2 since my last post. I'm still growing my mini skein stash though. I've managed to knit on other projects, but the blanket is now big enough that it isn't very portable.

I took a pic of the blanket before knitting the last square that I did. I don't have the most up-to-date photo, but I figure I should blog while I can, current pics or not. At the time, I was a whole 3 squares from the end of the row. Now, I have 2 left.

# done: 118
# left to go: 602 (I'm so far behind it's sad)
% finished: 16.4%

The mother of one of my coworkers was recently diagnosed with aggressive Stage IV breast cancer. I decided to make her a color affection shawl. Her favorite colors are purple and green, which I luckily already had in my stash. I had to go buy a skein of grey. I'm using 2 madtosh tosh sock skeins-the Green With Envy that I got in one of their clubs, and the skein of Tern that I had to buy. The purple is Tempted Deviant Behavior. Here is the yarn:

Have you ever had a yarn pick its own project? I've tried to use the Green With Envy on 2 other projects, neither of which worked out (socks and fingerless gloves). I really think it was waiting for this shawl. Here are some progress pics:

As a baby:

Finally growing some stripes:

Finally starting the purple:

I really love this shawl. I think I'll make one for my mom for her birthday. I'm not much of a shawl person-I don't get the joy out of knitting them that other knitters seem to experience. But I love this one a lot!

On an unrelated note, I went to a fantastic concert on March 11. The lineup was Kiros, Nine Lashes, Manafest, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Red. It was one of the best concerts I've ever been to! I'm going to subject you to pics just because. :)

Kiros: 

Nine Lashes: 

Manafest:

TFK:

TFK had a spinal column mic stand:

Red:

Nimroseita and me with Nine Lashes:

Manafest tried to make me look taller:

Me, sort of with Red:

Blanket Sunday-The Monday Edition

I haven't updated in a while, but that's because the blanket has sort of been neglected. I am really behind, but I've been busy, and I'm only going to get busier. I think I haven't really wanted to work on the blanket lately because I am on a strict yarn budget. Every other month most of the budget is taken up by the yarn club I'm in, so I only bought 3 minis this month. The lack of new colors to add makes me sad. That's my excuse for the past. My future excuse is this-I've started a part-time job in addition to my regular job. DH and I made a goal to get most if not all of our debt paid off this year, and so I took an extra job to help speed that along. We want to buy a house in 2014 if possible, so the debt needs to go away and we need to save for a down payment. I started my job on Saturday, and tonight is my only night off this week. Hopefully I can get a square or 2 done, but I certainly won't make my 2 squares a day minimum. I don't have any idea what I work Saturday, but I'm sure it'll be a full day.

But back to the blanket. Here she is, in all of her multi-colored glory:

I like the way it's turning out, although the overall color is a little too bright for my tastes. I should have been adding more black. Oh well. Maybe if I do a dark i-cord border, it'll make up for it.
Blanket Summary:
# of squares to go: 604 (116 done, but 56 squares behind schedule)
% complete: 16.1%

Here are the minis I got this month:

I'm going to be a stingy little trollop and not tell you where I got them so I can buy more of the rainbow color. Trollop has been reintroduced to my vocabulary thanks to a season 2 episode of Gilmore Girls. Gnome let me borrow all 7 or 8 seasons of the show. Good grief I'm easily distracted today.

Luckily, DH doesn't read my blog, so I can show you the socks that I'm knitting for our "first" anniversary. If you know me, you won't be surprised to know that I'm easily amused. We got married on 2-29-08, so this is technically our first anniversary. We're planning a big 10 year bash in 2048. But back to the socks.

DH, who hasn't read an entire book since the mid-90s, read all 7 Harry Potter books in less than a month. That thrills me to no end! So I picked Snape's Stockings as the pattern for his anniversary socks. I'm sort of on a time crunch, and DH likes ankle socks anyway, so I'm going straight from the ribbing to the heel flaps. I hope I can get them finished in a week. I really should have picked a toe-up pattern so I could do the leg length based on how much time I have left to knit, but I couldn't find any HP toe-up patterns that I liked. The yarn is Tempted Good Grrl in Mocha. I've had that skein for at least 2 years, and procrastinated on making DH more socks. The last (and only) pair he's gotten from me was the Diamond Gansey socks in 2009.

Finally, I frogged the geodesic cardigan that I started almost 2 years ago. I wasn't ever going to finish it anyway. I'll find something else to do with the yarn (Tempted Lacy Grrl). Maybe I'll make another clapotis.

100 squares

I just finished my 100th square. While awesome, I'm 17 squares behind for January (and 14 squares behind overall). I'm sure I'll catch up though and still finish the blanket this year.

# of squares to go: 620
% complete: 13.9%

I also finished a Mairi Tam last weekend. I love the pattern, but I think I blocked it incorrectly or something. I tried on Muriel's tam (she gave me the leftover yarn to make mine). When I wore hers, it looked awesome on me. Mine doesn't. Maybe I blocked it too strongly? It seems much loser than Muriel's tam. I guess I can reblock it.
Here it is blocking on the plate:

And on my head:

I never wove in the ends because I wasn't sure if I would end up frogging it and using bigger needles. It's sitting on my nightstand while I figure out what to do with it.

First FO of 2012

I didn't blog last week because I was busy visiting my friend Gnome in Texas and didn't have much progress on the blanket anyway. However, I finished my stripey socks last Thursday, so I have the first FO of the year!

I freaking love these socks. I think this is the first time I've completed 2 at a time socks (I could have sworn that I started a pair 2AAT before, but I must have frogged them or something). This is definitely the first time that I've done afterthought heels. I love how the socks are identical. I had to weigh the yarn and split the ball into 2 separate balls. The socks were on the needles together except for the toes and the heel. I increased the toes to 29 sts per needle; however, this became a problem when I got to the ribbing. I wanted to do 2x2 ribbing, but was short by 2 sts. After asking for help on Plurk, Wendy had the awesome suggestion of increasing 2 sts when I started the ribbing, so I did. I wish I would have thought of that lol. I have almost half of a skein of yarn left over, so I might make some fingerless gloves or something.
Pattern: I used Wendy's Toe-Up Slipstitch Heel pattern to know what number of sts to increase to, but I used The Knitgirllls afterthought-heel tutorial for the heels.
Yarn: String Theory Continuum in Coronal Mass Ejection
Needles: (2) US2 circs
Rav Project Page

A few months ago, I inquired about a destash for trade only on Rav. The seller agreed to put me as first dibs if she ever decided to sell rather than trade, and she made that decision last week. So now I have my second skein of String Theory Continuum, this time in Dark Matter. I like it.

My husband and I are trying to make a concerted effort to pay off our credit card debt this year, so I am on a fairly strict yarn budget from now on. Dreaming about having a house where I can just let the dogs out of the back door to pee without having to go with them is helping me stay motivated. In the meantime, I'm going to need minis for the blanket, so I imagine that's going to take up a fair chunk of the budget. Luckily, minis are fairly cheap and I can get 2-3 squares from each one.

The blanket is growing, albeit slowly. I'm slightly behind schedule now; since today is the 15th I should have finished 30 squares this month. I've done 25. So I'm not too far behind yet.

It would appear that I cannot take a photo in this apartment without either a dog or a dog toy getting into the pic. Before very long, I'm going to have to clear out the entire living room just to photograph the blanket.
# of squares done: 80 (640 to go)
% complete: 11%

Even-numbered years are always better

I am so glad that 2011 is over. I have a thing for even numbers, so I think 2012 will be better just because it's an even year. 2011 had a few bright spots, but overall I think it sucked and I'm ready for a new year.  Here's a few reasons why 2012 will be better:

• For starters, I was married on Feb 29, 2008, so I finally get to have my "first" anniversary.
• Secondly, I am so excited for the Red/TFK/Nine Lashes concert in Tulsa on March 11 that I can hardly stand it.
• My 10 yr HS reunion is this year. I'm not so sure that's a good thing, but hey. I'm gainfully employed, practice regular hygiene, don't have to worry about multiple baby daddies, and I'm sober. I've also never been arrested. That's more than several from my class of 24 people can say.
• It's an Olympic Year. Helllllooooo, Ravelympics and Team Sprout (the 2012 ravelympics group hasn't been made yet, so I linked the 2010 group)

I didn't quite meet my 2011 FO goal (22 in 2011). I came fairly close with 18 FOs though.  My 2012 goal is 24 FOs and to finish the sock yarn blanket. I'll also need to figure out something for a Ravelympics goal (beyond heading a team and keeping my sanity lol). I didn't meet my 2011 reading goal of 88 books either, although I came dangerously close to getting halfway there (I finished 42). If it weren't for the 3 months that I didn't knit or read anything, I would have certainly surpassed the knitting goal and could have met the reading goal. I think my reading goal for 2012 will be 60. I know I can do 48, so I'll make my goal 60 for a challenge and hope I make it. I made badges:

I started some fantastic stripey socks this week. I've always heard that vanilla socks made out of self-striping yarn are addictive, and it's true. I decided to challenge myself just a little bit and do my first afterthought heels as well as doing 2 at a time on 2 circs. So far, so good. The socks are approximately 2 stitches off from each other, color-wise.

I used Wendyknits' toe-up slipstitch heel pattern just to know how much to increase to (58 sts), but I'm using the Knitgirllls' afterthought heel tutorial. I'm using (2) ~24" US2 circulars. The yarn is String Theory Continuum in Coronal Mass Ejection. Here's the link to my ravelry project page.

And finally, blanket Sunday. All of the ends that can be are woven in. So far, I am slightly ahead of schedule. I started it on Dec 5, so I needed to make 52 squares in Dec in order to finish within a year. I've finished 55 squares as of 11pm CST last night.

I couldn't get Jake and Sadie to stay out of the picture, so I resorted to making funny squawking sounds so that they'd at least look cute for me.

# of squares done: 55
% complete: 7.6%

Merry Christmas!

I finally finished my Christmas knitting yesterday while in the car on the way to the inlaw's. The last gift finished was a cowl for Mom, and we didn't get to her house until this morning. The fact that I finished her gift yesterday was fantastic, especially since I've had to finish gifts in front of her on the actual holiday more than once.

I finished DH's Jacques Cousteau hat last Tuesday. I worked on the majority of it in front of him, and he was still surprised when I plopped it on his head shortly after weaving in the ends. He had forgotten that I said I'd knit him a hat, and so I won Christmas this year.

Pattern: Jacques Cousteau Hat
Yarn: Cascade 220 in 9465
Needles: US7
Rav Project Page

Sorry about the mess on the island behind DH. I've been an adult for 10 years, but I can't figure out if I'm supposed to keep every bill statement that comes in the mail or not. Since everything is digital now, I suppose I can just shred them. But I'm still scared that something bad will happen if I get rid of them, like somehow I won't have proof that I paid the bill or something. I'm weird like that. So I stack them on the island and pretend they don't exist. Moving on.

I finished the second of the 54 hats last week around Sunday or Monday. The second looked the same as the first and both fit the girls. They seemed to like them, so that's good. Both hats together took less than a full skein of Malabrigo Worsted.

Like I said earlier, I finished Mom's Stacked Eyelet Cowl in the car yesterday. Mom wanted a "manly" color since she's pretty much a tomboy, so I picked Malabrigo Silky Merino in Smoke. She liked it as well, and it fit.

Pattern: Stacked Eyelet Cowl
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Smoke
Needles: US7
Rav Project Page

I came across the most adorable little pattern on Friday night for a mini snowman. I made one in the car on the way to the IL's, although I had to finish it at their house. I think it's so stinking cute that I almost can't stand it. When I make the next one, I'm going to make sure to make the arms lower so that they won't be covered by the scarf.

Pattern: Minimochi Snowman
Yarns: Lang Jawoll in White, Tempted Good Grrl in Onyx, and Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Pool
Needles: US1 (I thought I was going to snap them several times)
Rav Project Page

I started the Palouse Mitts back in October during a bout of startitis. I've completely lost interest in them. I'm not sure why though. They're cute and everything, and I haven't had any problems with the pattern. Could it be the yarn? I think this is the third time I've tried to use it-it's Madtosh in Green With Envy. I guess I'll wait to frog them and see if I can get motivated again to look at them.

Speaking of frogging, I finally killed the La Digitessa Socks today. I'd lost my place when I accidentally deleted my stitch counter app, and if I remember correctly, I don't think the row counter jived with where it looked like I was anyway. And they didn't fit.

I had a bit of stash enhancement this week. I got several minis, but I don't want to try to show you all of them and explain what they are lol. I also got my Tempted Burlesque package. This is the debut of the Feisty Grrl line (100% SW Merino). The colorway is Blue Blood. I really like it, but I'm not sure what I'll make with it.

It's finally time for the blanket. I've managed to knit 8 squares since yesterday, so I averaged 1 square per day for the week. Since it'll require 720 squares if I do the size I've planned, I need to do at least 2 per day to finish it within a year. I'd like to have it done in 6 months or so, so I need 4 squares per day. Now that Christmas knitting is done, I'll have more time to devote to it. I measured it on the floor today, and it is 55" across, so it is 7" longer than intended (1st square=2", so 24 squares should equal 48"). I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't make it as I've planned. I'm going to need to buy a lot of minis, that's for sure.

# of squares done: 38
% complete: 5%

Christmas is coming, whether I like it or not.

For Christmas this year, I only had to knit 5 items: 2 Stacked Eyelet Cowls, 2 "54" hats, and 1 Jacques Cousteau hat. Christmas is a week away, and I have finished 3 of the 5 (1 cowl & both "54" hats). That stinking blanket sucked away my desire to knit on anything else. However, I have all week to finish the Jacques Cousteau hat for DH (I'm approximately 75% done with it), I'm off on Friday (and maybe half of Thursday), and I have a 4 hour drive to the IL's on Saturday as well as all day Saturday to knit the cowl for Mom. I'm not too incredibly worried.

I just finished the second of the 2 hats for my friend's daughters. I'm a little concerned about them fitting, but they both fit on my head, so I think it'll be ok.

Pattern: "54"
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Gerino
Needles: US9 dpns
Rav project page

I think I'm going to start a thing called Blanket Sunday. It'll be an easy way for me to watch my progress on the blanket. I doubt I'll post every Sunday, but hopefully I can be somewhat regular with it. Since my first blog about the blanket was last Sunday, I'll count that as the first installment. Here's the blanket as of yesterday (haven't worked on it since then):

# of squares done: 30
% complete: 4%

The blanket was supposed to be 4 feet wide by 5 feet long. The first square was 2" wide (in square orientation), so 24 squares should be 48". However, the blanket is wider than I am tall (I'm 4'11"). I haven't actually measured it on the floor, so maybe the weight of the squares makes it stretch enough to make it longer? Either way, this blanket is going to be huge. H-U-G-E.

Stash Expansion Extravaganza

I may have gotten carried away with stash enhancement this month. I just wanted some self-striping yarn.

My new babies, L-R: String Theory Continuum Self-Striping in Coronal Mass Ejection (bought from a destash on Rav), Spinning Fates Toula in Sam The Snowman (Etsy purchase), Lollipop Yarn Feelings in Shazam (Etsy purchase), and Gynx Yarn Sock in Oil Slick (fantastic Christmas present from Gnome). Clearly I need to block Etsy on my computer.

I don't think this one counts as a self-striping, so I photographed it alone. I love the colors in this skein so much-I can't believe no one bought it before I did!

It's Another Crafty Girl's Strong Sock in Hideous Zippleback (another Etsy purchase... sigh). Finally, Tempted is offering a 20% off Christmas sale, so I convinced DH that I really need more blue yarn. Sidra came home to me.

Then there was the yarn that I bought for Christmas presents. I personally don't think it should count as stash enhancement since it won't be staying here for long, and therefore shouldn't count towards my total number of skeins acquired. Just sayin.

First up is another skein of Malabrigo Silky Merino. I'm going to make the same cowl that I made as a Christmas present for one of my friends (I'll show you that here in a bit), the Stacked Eyelet Cowl. My mom is a bit of a tomboy, so I got her a manly color, Smoke (per her request, nothing "pretty").

I'm also going to knit hats for my friend's 2 daughters, so I bought some Malabrigo Merino Worsted in the Gerino colorway. I think I'm only going to need one of them though-the first hat didn't take much.

I finished a Christmas present about a week ago. I am awful about keeping presents until Christmas, so the recipient already got it. She loved it. :)

Stacked Eyelet Cowl
Needles: US 7
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Blackberry

I've finished one of the hats for my friend's daughters. One more to go.

Pattern: 54
Needles: US9 dpns
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Gerino

I'm knitting the Jacques Cousteau hat for DH's Christmas present. I've knit on it in front of him and he hasn't even noticed. Since I have until Christmas to finish it, I've set it aside for now while I work on other Christmas knitting (I need those hats done by Thursday, 12/15). I have somewhere between 4 and 6 inches. I start the decreases when I get to 8 inches or so.

Jacques Cousteau Hat
Needles: US 7 dpns
Yarn: Cascade 220 in 9465 (aka dark brown)

Finally, I have a shameful confession. I've jumped on the sock yarn blanket bandwagon. I started Shelly Kang's Sock Yarn Blanket last Monday. I have a small OCD problem, and I agonized over the decisions I had to make with this blanket. Do I knit it in diamonds like the original? Or in squares? If I go with diamonds, do I live with the sawtoothed edges or do I knit triangles to fill them? If I go with squares, there is a nice solid border. Regardless of orientation, do I knit a border? I had to start over 4 times before I finally decided on the square orientation. I still haven't decided whether or not to knit a border around it. The thought of picking up all of those stitches is a tad bit intimidating, but I do have a 60" knitpicks interchangeable cable. I also need to decide how big to make it. Each square is 2" wide or so. I think I'll probably want a 4'x5' blanket, so that'll be 24 squares wide by 30 squares tall. That'll be 720 squares. Sheesh. It's a good thing they're fun.

Here is my blanket as of 10 minutes ago:

I've had to make myself put it down in order to knit Christmas presents. When I finish a gift, I get to knit on the blanket for a while. As long as I do 2 or more squares per day, I'll have it done within a year. I hope to be done by May.

Starting this blanket made me realize exactly how few sock yarn remnants I actually have. I could have sworn that I have a lot, but I don't. After joining the blankie mania group on Ravelry, I discovered the world of sock yarn mini skeins. People apparently divide up skeins into mini skeins of ~20yds or 5g and then sell them or swap them. There are Etsy sellers who sell them as well. Since starting this blanket, I have bought.... 28 mini skeins. I've received 9 of them in the mail so far. I have to stop myself from buying more. Here's what's come so far:

2 mini skeins of Colinette Jitterbug in the Jay colorway. I have approximately 40yds total, and have already knit a square with one of them.

Next up are 7 skeins of Sunshine Yarns Sock Yarn in Deep Within, Peacock, In Bloom, Biosphere, Be Thankful, Everlast, and Bella. They are 6g each, totalling approximately 155yds. I've already used Be Thankful and Everlast in the blanket.

There should be some kind of warning on these things about how addictive they are. Good grief.