Reboot

I can't seem to get myself together this month. I'm not waiting until the 31st to redo my goals, 'cause I know already I'm not coming anywhere close to achieving them.

I did finish my Dad's mitts last month. Check. (And the shoulder did stop hurting.)

Haven't touched the Blackberry scarf since it became obvious it wouldn't be done in time for my friend's 50th birthday. I gave her this instead:

I got the body (sans hood) done on my hoodie, but the shoulders are too narrow. It will have to be ripped back to nearly the armholes and reknit. Can't get psyched for that right now with spring almost on us, so that is in hibernation until fall.

I got started on my Après Surf Hoodie in my Alpine Algae Sundara FSM -

LOVE this color! Very beachy. Aqua and taupe. Will I be done by 3/31? What do you think...

I will accomplish one of my goals for this month - I just had to start my Yarn Chef project -

Did. Wakame tunic from Interweave Knits Summer '08 in Yarn Chef's Café au Lait in Picholine. ("Little olive(s)" I believe.) This color is the devil to capture. I love this yarn. I hope I'm 25% done 'cause my yarn's 25% gone.

I still have 10 days to work, and there's a knitting retreat in there. So knitting will be done. I may start Amelia ahead of schedule to have a project to work on when I'm not up to lace.

The Weatherman was Right

10 inches baby.

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my favorite things about this house is watching snow fall in the woods while sitting inside drinking tea and knitting. We've only had a couple of small snowfalls since moving here about 14 months ago. This one could be as much as 10 inches! Yay!

Now I'm gonna go brew a cup of tea, and sit here and knit -

Okay. A Plan. For the next couple of months anyway.

This month - finish Dad's mitts. Let shoulder stop hurting :(

March

• finish Blackberry scarf


• finish Ribbed Hoodie


• sweater from one of my Sundara FSMs for Knitalong


• start Yarn Chef project for Knitalong

April

• finish Yarn Chef project


• Random Small Project


• Amelia

May

• Random Bigger Project


• more that I will decide later

The Blackberry Scarf - Adia in Sundara Sock, Night Blossom

Ribbed Hoodie in Cascade 220 Café and Japanese Maple held together






The Yarn Chef yarn I think I will use for the knitalong (subject to change of course) - Café au Lait in Picholine



The Sundara I think I want to use isn't here yet - Fingering Silky Merino in Alpine Algae (blue-green and brown I think...)


The Amelia will be out of this - Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label in Stormy (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5523290)

I'm going to have two yarn jars to draw the Random Projects from - one for small projects, one for bigger ones. The list of yarn I have for big projects (>500 yds) is 93 items long. The list of yarn for small projects is 23 long. I think that's weird. And expensive.

So, this should keep me hopping for awhile. I will at least do a status update/regrouping post near the end of each month.

Oops...

I didn't realize anyone read this (other than my daughter!) much less commented on it, so when I was flipping back through my posts and saw a comment here and there I felt bad that I hadn't responded! I didn't even know if there was a way to be notified of comments, but I've fixed that so hopefully I will find out about them in a timely manner now.

I guess I won't get rid of this blog, although I doubt I'll post too often. I may do another goal list for 2009 (a little late, but whatever) as that was a big help in keeping me motivated the first year I did it. I don't want to duplicate what I do on Ravelry, so that's still the best place to see what I'm working on. I will try to keep the cool knitting meter I found on Malgorzata's blog up-to-date.

I do have a comment to make about my stash - I am mortified that I am teetering on the brink of having a 2nd page of stash (list view) on Ravelry! And that's not really all of my yarn - I haven't entered the odd skein here or there (except for Sundara) unless it's lace weight. So most of my stash items = a sweater or a shawl. (FYI - one list page on Rav = 100 items.) I am going to try to use keeping my stash to one page as incentive to cut back on buying yarn. (Which pretty much means I have to use up a stash item before I can buy anything else! Ack!) I'm learning to use Excel in a computer class I'm taking and I've downloaded my stash into a spreadsheet - pretty cool! I keep thinking it would be fun to have all my stashed yarn listed on little strips of paper that I put in a jar. When I want to start something new, I would draw a slip our and have to use whatever yarn was on it. This would not mean I couldn't also have other things on the needle, but that I'd always have one project on the needles from the Stash Jar. Maybe that will be part of my goal list. We'll see. I think I need to go knit now.

The Process

1. Hmmm....

2. oooohh - this looks So Cool!

3. I wonder if it can be done...

Yes! But needs some tweaking...

4. Little tweak

think I'm ready to knit a whole block...

5. BIG tweak (this was hard!)

6. Plays with colors/tweaks some more

7. Plays with more colors/tweaks some more/tests directions

8. Plays with border idea

9. I think I've got it! I'll use the Good Stuff this time!

The maths -

The finished product!

New Pattern!

The strangest thing has happened! I've been hit by a couple of pattern ideas like a one-two punch! I'm still working on one, but am in the processing of trying to get the other up on Ravelry as a cheap (but not free) download.

It's a double-knit scarf made with Kureyon or Silk Garden and it is so cool! Look -

My favorite is the Silk Garden one - it feels so cushy and soft and I love the colors.

It was so cool to get inspired again (what is it with me and Noro anyway?) but between knitting as fast as I can, exams, Christmas, and the usual rat race, I feel like I'm being pulled in 50 different directions.