Wednesday, June 25, 2014

YOP #50 or Nearing the End

I'm only 3 days late for this update, but to be fair, I've been in a car since Sunday morning. There have been breaks to charge the car but not enough to pull out my netbook and update this blog. I had thought about writing before Sunday and letting the blog update itself, but I've had a huge show this past weekend.

Overall, it's been a good 10 days of knitting for me (I might as well write about the last 3 days as I'm hoping to write about the entire year next week). During the course of the show on Saturday night, I finished the Vanilla Eyelets. I've decided that they are keeping that name as they are a simple "vanilla" sock which works for some of the crazier yarns I have. The yarn I used was a Christmas gift that I've tried at least 2 other patterns with before designing my own. I even managed to weave in the ends (and not miss any of my cues) and wore them the next day as the family and I headed out west in our Tesla. It was a tad warm to wear the socks but they were very comfortable and I enjoyed the warmth of them when we hit the motel we stayed at in South Dakota.

Husband and I have been taking turns driving. This has allowed me to finish the first Mint Twist sock. Well, mostly finish it. I haven't woven in the ends yet. When we stopped in Colorado to have dinner with Mom, I managed to show off my progress. She was very impressed. She hasn't started socks from that shipment yet. I also gave her the rest of her birthday present, yarn from the Yarn Shop Hop that was being dyed as the shop had run out, which I was going to ship to her. I'm kind of glad I didn't as I was able to give it to her in person and she got to pick which two of the four she wanted. Husband pointed out that they were "exactly the same" but any knitter will know that yarn can vary not only between dye lots but also within a dye lot, especially when hand-dyed.

While we were in Las Vegas waiting for the car to charge, I started to cast on the second sock. I didn't get very far. Antsy children and dry heat making everyone cranky meant I needed to do some intervening. The heat also slows down the charge of the battery, so we were reaching a point that our next stop was going to be later as we waited for the last 5 miles. We ended up skipping that last bit of charge and headed out. It also meant I didn't get to finish casting on the sock as I was driving.

I've brought along two other projects to cast on. One is a knitted top and the other is one of the June 2014 Cookie A sock patterns. I've yet to start either of them. I think this is mostly due to the fact that it's not fun casting on in the car and there have been other things to take care of during our charging breaks. I probably would have cast something on before writing this if my knitting was in the hotel room. Alas, it is the car with Husband who is charging it, so you get a blog entry with pictures instead.

Sock progress as we were leaving South Dakota.

Knitting as we entered Utah. My sock was a source of comfort in the drab landscape. The landscape did improve so much that I stopped knitting for a while.

Finished Objects

Works in Progress

Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , , ,

Monday, June 16, 2014

YOP #49 or Sangerfest tilsvarer en nesten ferdig sokk

This week's title translates (according to Google translate) to Song Fest corresponds to a nearly finished sock which is extremely accurate. The Norwegian Singers Association of America holds a biannual event called Sangerfest. We had the honor of being the host site for the event this year.

This is what 200+ members of Norwegian Glee Clubs look like on stage. Well, at least what the staging looks like. Some of them were putting off taking their seats until the last minute.
This was an event that we went into feeling very prepared and waiting for the other shoe to fall. It ended up being very delightful, especially working with the 200+ singers at the event. There was a memorial service, a parade of choruses and the amazing Grand Concert. Guess what I did during all of those? That's right, I knit. Saturday night, the evening of the Grand Concert, I was sitting in my little hidey-hole and working on one of my socks. Several of the guys stopped by and joked with me that I would have knit while Rome burned (or something similar). They were a wonderful group to work with and the music was really good. They had a guest group from Oslo who were hilarious and amazing. During their rehearsal, they sang "Loch Lomond" and a medley of Elvis Presley songs (both sets very Norwegian, ja?) and it was fantastic. Saturday night I managed to knit a whole inch and a half on the foot of the Vanilla Eyelet socks. Between the work I did on it Thursday night during the memorial service/parade of choruses, Friday night while walking with Husband and a friend and at the Saturday concert, I'm nearly finished with the sock. Extremely close. There's about 8 more rounds before I do the toe. If I hadn't had to do things (like open doors and make sure people were where they were suppose to be), then I might have actually finished the sock.

Nearly finished sock next to second sock still on the needles. I suppose it's not really finished until I weave in the ends.
Since last week, I made it through the heel of the first Mint Twist sock. It's been a while since I've made a heel flap which I think has made it entertaining for me. It still makes me giggle on the inside about how terrified I was when I made my first sock. Now it seems like second nature. I'm loving the Tanis Fiber Arts yarn. It's the purple label cashmere sock yarn and the color is the Cookie A December 2013 called "Julep". Husband keeps calling it "Seafoam". When he first saw it, he wanted to know why I had a bridesmaid dress in the form of yarn. I've struggled with liking the color since then but thankfully a friend of mine loved it so I'm making the socks for her. I'm loving the pattern and may need to make a pair for myself as well.

Lovely Mint Twist Sock. I kind of want the pattern as a hat instead of a pair of socks. Apparently I need more hats...
There are two weeks left of this year's Year of Projects blog-along. I've apparently misnumbered a week somewhere along the line. I'm hoping to at least finish off the Vanilla Eyelet socks (and if anyone seriously has a better name for it, let me know!) before the end of the month. I've got another concert series this weekend, though it is definitely more involved for me.We're also taking a road trip during the last week of June. I'll get to do a lot of knitting. Husband has asked that I start a project that isn't a sock, hat or scarf. He then hinted that I should work on a tank top for myself. If I can get a swatch done before I leave, I might bring that along. Otherwise, it'll be a pattern from the 2014 MN Yarn Shop Hop (I do believe I still need to write about that....) and probably a sock (or two). I have to make sure I don't run out of knitting projects! Otherwise I may end up buying new yarn on the trip, which would break my self-imposed yarn fast.

Finished Objects

Works in Progress

Posted by at 5 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, June 9, 2014

YOP #46-#48 or Happy Birthday to me!

I have been attempting to write this post for the last 2 weeks. It's been busy. I've had a 2nd wedding anniversary and today (Sunday) is my birthday. It's a good thing my attention span with knitting is superior to that towards blogging. (Note: I couldn't even get to finishing this post on my birthday; I've just been that unfocused on writing.)

It's nearly the end of my first year doing a Year of Projects. I've learned a lot and I've even made some progress since the last time I posted. One thing I'm going to work on for this next year is to not only stay better at posting these updates, but to do an additional update once a week. If I have enough time to play stupid facebook games (which I do), then I have enough time to blog. That would probably also be a better use of my time....

Onto the projects!

My socks (currently Vanilla Eyelets but I really want something better) have progressed greatly. I'm on the foot of the second sock and I've apparently hit a wall of some sort. Is this a partial case of Second Sock Syndrome? I just want them to be done so I can wear them but I don't seem to want to do them. I think they have been neglected lately due to starting a friend's birthday present and wanting/needing to finish the shawl.

My TARDIS shawl is complete!

It doubled in size while blocking. I may need to work on that.

Horrible picture but I was too excited about it being done to care.















































 It was finished in time to go to the Commemorative Air Force Minnesota Wing Spring Hangar dance. We got all dolled up and I wore this shawl (good thing too; it was a bit chilly that evening) because the TARDIS was totally a thing in the 1940s.....

I love how soft the finished fabric is and it was a lot of fun to make. Not in a hurry to make another one just like this but I wouldn't mind doing it again.

Here's one of the photos we had taken while we were there. They haven't uploaded the ones from in front of the aircraft yet. 

Mint Twist socks, one of the December 2013 Cookie A sock patterns, have been started. They are for my friend for her birthday. I did have them started before her birthday and the first one is nearly done, which I'm quite happy with. This is probably one of the fastest Cookie A socks I've knit. As of Sunday, I'm just about to pick up gusset stitches on the first sock. Hopefully I'll have pictures next week.

I still have a baby sock pattern to get out of my head. I need to partially frog it and change one section. I also have another dog to make. I really need to get on that. It shouldn't take too long, especially now that I've got backwards knitting as a skill.

Finished Objects

Works in Progress






Posted by at 3 comments:
Labels: , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)