Ahead of schedule

January's projects are DONE!



Baby sweaters DONE!
Iraq hat DONE!
Husband sweater DONE!
Partial redo of orange tweed sweater DONE!
Finish felted bag DONE! (but not felted yet)
Friend's scarf DONE! PLUS I made her a matching Calorimetry




Revised February to-do list:

• finish FLAK (sleeves need to be knit/reknit)
• felted box for Dad in his school colors (felt bag at the same time)
• Argosy from Winter '06 knitty for Mom
• Undecided sweater - either Equestrian Blazer, Celtic Cabled sweater (UFO), Cascade 128 Tweed sweater, or cabled sweater in Araucania Naturewool Chunky. May not finish, but should make a good start.

I did buy more yarn, it fit my exceptions rules though. Rowanspun Aran in Caviar to knit the Equestrian Blazer in. I saw knittingspaz's EB knit in this and found the yarn in a color I adore on eBay. I want to knit that next, but may wait until next month since I will still be able to wear it when it's a bit closer to spring. The Araucania or Cascade 128 sweaters won't be wearable for long this year, so I should make one of them first.

Oops

Bought 2 skeins of Araucania at more than half price. But it's a color I really love and will probably buy more of if I come across it. Distressing lack of willpower, that. I should stop checking out eBay.

The orange tweed sweater is redone and blocked. The baby sweaters are nestled in their box, waiting to be wrapped and delivered. The bag is waiting to be felted. The friend scarf is about 3/4 finished. My original January to-do list had a felted lunch bag which has been shelved for now - DD says she doesn't really need it, so it can wait. I guess it was replaced with that impulsive Calorimetry.

I've gone through all my old Interweave Knits and made index cards for each pattern I want to knit. I will eventually go through my other knitting magazines and do the same thing. It's amazing what you can forget about. I pulled about half a dozen things I want to knit sooner rather than later, including a vest pattern that may be Vest #1. It will be a lot easier to pull out all the cards with sweater patterns I want to knit than to look through every single magazine and when I am looking for something to knit. To be thorough I should go through pattern leaflets and books also. This could take years.

.. or maybe I'll post pictures on Monday...

Baby kimono
Calorimetry
Iraq hat
Husband's sweater

The second baby sweater is still waiting to be seamed. You can't tell in the picture, but the first one is in Pistachio (page green) Aurora 8. The second one is in Blue Topaz (pale blue) Aurora 8. Calorimetry is in Moss Aurora 8, with a little cable action thrown in. I only cast on 92 stitches for this one. The Iraq hat is in black Aurora 8 (I swear, it's just a coincidence that I knit so many things at once out of Aurora 8.) The husband sweater is EZ's seamless saddle shoulder sweater in Cascade 220 Lichen. I finished reknitting the top of my orange tweed sweater today. I need to graft the underarms and then it will be done (again.)

That means I have over a week to finish my friend's scarf (once the yarn arrives,) seam the baby sweater, graft the orange tweed sweater's underarms, and finish the bag to felt and I will have accomplished my January goals. I may get a head start on February today because knitting the bag is my mindless knitting and that's not what I feel like doing this afternoon. I've received the vest book I ordered, and while nothing much grabs me, I think it will help me in designing my own. I also found Ann Budd's Grand Plan Vest Chart in an old Interweave Knits which should be helpful. I know the vest is a March project, but I never said I couldn't start early! Besides, I have a lot of research to do before I pick up the needles for that project.

Finished, finished, finished, finished, and nearly finished

Finished: Baby sweater. Opted for crocheted chains for the ties.
Finished: Iraq hat.
Finished: Calorimetry in stash yarn (in one day!)
Finished: Husband's sweater.
Nearly finished: Baby sweater #2.

Film at 11. Or tomorrow. Or maybe Sunday.

Potential new project - the cover sweater of the new KnitScene. I have some Lamb's Pride Bulky stashed that would be perfect. Should be a fairly quick knit, but would still cause some project bumping. If it's fairly mindless knitting, it could go into the mindless knitting queue after the bag and the Friend's scarf.

My LYS owner recommended Classic Knitted Vests by Nancy Wiseman, but she had no copies left, so I found one on eBay. I bought Folk Vests with my Christmas present gift certificate, so between the two, I should at least have a starting point for the vests I want to knit. I suspect I will end up designing my own, but probably after knitting at least one from a pattern so I have a better idea of the construction. I know they seem simple - no sleeves! But the armhole has to be finished in some way and the size (of the armhole) must be right. What I really want is a one-piece construction cabled vest that buttons or zips or fastens in some way rather than going over the head. I think an Elsebeth Lavold book I bought recently may also have a vest in it, plus I've always wanted to make her Cul-de-Sac in Knitters. (At least two of the yarns in my stash were bought with that vest in mind.)

The rows are getting shorter!

The sleeves and body of Husband's sweater have been joined, and I'm well into the decreases. Hope to have it done over the next 2 or 3 days. Still procrastinating about the ties on the baby sweater, but Daughter hasn't finished her baby sweater yet, so I'm in no big hurry (yet.) I got the yarn I need to finish the Iraq hat, so hopefully that will be done soon.

Went to the LYS to pick up that yarn and spend a gift certificate. I've been wanting to make some vests, so I got Cheryl Oberle's Folk Vests. I see several I'd like to make, but I also want to design one myself. I think I will have to make a couple from patterns first to get the hang of it.

Sort of fell off the wagon already as far as the yarn diet goes, but there were extenuating circumstances. I needed one skein of Cascade 220 to finish my felted bag, and it's just crazy to pay $5 to ship one $6.60 skein of yarn, so I ordered 4 other colors I've been wanting to see. (I wish you could get a Cascade 220 color card!) Also, Husband had a potentially major health scare that ended up being not-so-bad (but still scary) so I guess I bought yarn for stress management! At least it was under $40. Cheaper than therapy.

One sleeve down...

... on Husband's sweater, 7" to go on the second. I think I am going to do I-cord ties on the baby sweater instead of ribbons, but haven't felt like tackling that yet. Daughter may have stalled out on her baby sweater - I don't think she's worked on it for a few days now. Those babies aren't going to wait for her.

Turns out that Mom can't knit with mohair - it makes her hands break out. So I guess a mohair wrap would not be a good birthday present. I have no other ideas at the moment - it may be that I won't be knitting her present this year.

The last of my pre-January 1 yarn purchases arrived today. Some nice brown and white light worsted from eBay. That will be it unless something really cheap turns up! It's odd how we get so excited about a yarn, buy it, then toss it in the stash and keep buying more. I think it's necessary to have a stash to work from, I just feel like mine needs to be smaller. Right, I'd best get to work.

The Plan

Here's my plan for the next few months: [subject to change without notice ;o) ]

January:

• Baby sweater(s) (WIP)
• Husband sweater (WIP)
• Partial redo of orange tweed sweater
• Finish felted bag (UFO)
• Friend's scarf (NEW)
• Lunch bag (NEW)

February:

• FLAK (UFO)
• Celtic cabled sweater (UFO)
• Triple Mohair Triangle (UFO) for Mom?
• Felted box for Dad

March:

• 128 Tweed sweater (NEW)
• Vest I (NEW)

April:

• Vest II (NEW)
• Einstein Coat (UFO)

May:

• Kureyon sweater (NEW)

June:

• Bird's Nest Shawl (UFO)
• Learn to Knit Afghan (UFO)

July:

• Diamond Fantasy Shawl (UFO)
• Charlotte III (UFO)

That will take care of my current UFOs and WIPs. Probably too ambitious, but it gives me something to shoot for! (Working on UFOs doesn't make much of a dent in the stash, but I'll be able to cast on for several projects once they're all done.)

The baby sweater is done except for the ties. Daughter is about 1/3 of the way through the second one. LYS did not have any more of the yarn for the Iraq cap, so that's on hold until she gets it in. It's not on the list because I will finish it asap and it won't take but an hour or two. Both sleeves have been cast on for Husband sweater and are currently about 6 inches long. I'm knitting EZ's seamless saddle shoulder sweater.

My exceptions

I see that others attempting to knit from the stash this year are allowing themselves exceptions. I don't knit socks, so I won't have the "sock yarn doesn't count" exemption, I'm not going to any sheep and wool festivals, so I won't have the "festival yarn doesn't count" exemption, and I don't spin, so I won't have the "fleece, etc doesn't count" exemption. My exemption will be one of my top 10 yarns at a ridiculously low price. My top 10:

1. Cascade 220 - any of the heathers or tweeds specifically
2. Cascade 128
3. Araucania Nature Wool (Worsted or Chunky)
4. Artful Yarns Jazz (discontinued)
5. Jo Sharp Silkroad (tweed or not, any weight)
6. Rowan Tweed (any)
7. Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool and Silky Tweed
8. Malabrigo
9. Noro Kureyon
10. New Tweed

I could happily knit with nothing but these 10 yarns. Yes, I like wool, yes I like tweed. My definition of a ridiculously low price? Anything half price or below.

Progress report: Baby sweater #1 should be completed tonight, except for the ties. (I need to buy ribbon for them.) Daughter insists that she will knit baby sweater #2. I'll give her a week to get a good start, then I'm at least going to help her out. I've knit about 4 inches on the first sleeve of Husband's sweater. I should get the yarn I need to finish the Iraq hat tomorrow, and have that done by tomorrow night.