Oops, missed October, and almost November

So late for September's check-in, never did October, and here it is the end of November. Well I must admit, knitting hasn't been high of the list of things I've been doing, though I have been in my yarn a lot.

I've been hit by a major urge to purge. Last Saturday I drove to Beckley, WV and delivered by Reeves wheel to its new mommy. That's its picture at the top of this post. I've never spun on it, since I vowed to finish it before I did. Its previous owner had spun very little on it. So the wheel is 10+ years old and hasn't done much but be home decor. I worried that I might regret the decision, but I'm really happy. Connie has a number of wheels, including a number of Reeves. I feel like the wheel is going back home almost, at least to live with some cousins. Plus, I know that it will be loved and used for what it was meant for.

Then I've been going the the stash with a brutal eye. Lots has been going on the "for sale" pile. Last time I did the math it was almost 20% in terms of yardage, and a fair bit more was added since then. Plus I have a "maybe" pile to go back through, that was about 10% of the stash last time I did the math. Why? Well I hit SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) years ago, but continued to add. But I've really been thinking about why I knit and what I like to knit the last year or so and came to a few conclusions.

1) I'm awe-struck by fancy large lace shawls. I kinda enjoy the process of creating them (though I do tend to get side-tracked easily on any large project). I have no use for them once done. So..... large quantities of lace yarn were easy to let go of.

2) I don't really knit sweaters. I don't live in a climate where I wear them much. Plus there's the big project issue again. I've knit 2-3 sweaters in the 20 years I've been a knitter. Decided I probably wasn't going to get through the 20 or so I had in the stash!

3) Hard as it is to believe, I've decided it is possible to have too much sock yarn.

So pretty much anything I don't have a project in mind for is on the destash list. There's a link on the side-bar to the listing in Ravelry. If you aren't on Ravelry (and why not???), feel free to drop a note and I'll send you the excel spreadsheet. (Yes, I am that anal. Or as the t-shirt my sister saw says "I have CDO. It's like OCD, but in the correct order.)

Overdue September Check-in!

So the count from September to October stayed the same, but at least I have some pictures.

To the left is a friend's granddaughter modeling the first baby sweater made with a kit from Knit Picks. When I saw it I thought it was cute and the colors would probably be perfect for her, and I think I was right. I modified it by turning the cardigan into a henley. I can't wait to meet this kid in person because every pic I've seen she's like this, and I think she may be the happiest baby ever.

Another friend also recently became a grandparent, this time a boy, so I started a second sweater. I changed the bubble stitch to stripes in the yoke, and used Knit Pick Shine because I wanted brighter colors. Went with a patriotic colorway because daddy is in the Army. Just as I was finishing I thought, "hmmm, maybe I should have gone for olive, tan, etc." Anyway, I just finished it this weekend so slipped it in even though it technically doesn't fit in a September recap!


All in all I'm happy with my latest attempts to get the WIPs under control. Only one category still has more than one project, and the total is under 10 which is amazing for me.

So here's the official list as of the end of September:

Baby - 1
Patriotic Little Bubbles sweater

Hat - 1
Bonkers Hat

Household - 1
Log Cabin afghan

Mittens - 2
Yummy Mittens
Twined Wristers

Novelty - 1
Mini Flag

Scarf - 0

Shawl or Wrap - 1
Hanami

Socks or other footwear - 1
Travelers Socks

Sweaters - 1
Flora

Montpelier

Well despite saying for weeks that I wasn't going because "it's not like I need any yarn," Saturday dawned as the first sunny day in a week and I was itchy to get outside and Montpelier beckoned.



My non-yarn purchase was this ceramic spindle and bowl from Steam Valley Fiber. Perfect fall day just seemed to call for an acorn spindle!

The festival seemed very crowded to me, but I'm not so good with crowds. Not sure if lots of people had the same urge I did, or if Saturday is just busier than Sunday when I've gone in the past.

And yes, there were yarn purchases. First some Tin Silk from Tintagel Farms, then some Color Changing Cotton from Wolle's Yarn Creations, and last some Hand Dyed Brushed Mohair from Steam Valley Fiber. The cotton was the only purchase I had planned on. I'd looked at this yarn last year but was being very good and not buying any then. I'm going to knit a small scarf for a friend who's in a Red Hat group to try it. The others, I don't know, but I just loved the colors!

Idaho is good!

Well I've always loved north Idaho. My aunt and her family moved there 41 years ago. They lived on a farm and one of my favorite summers was spent there, doing chores in the morning then roaming all over the mountain the rest of the day, usually on horseback. My cousins even took me to visit the cougar den. This is the house they lived in then:


The last day my cousin Brett and I took my sister there to show her. We discovered the property has been divided into lots to sell for development (boo hoo). But they did keep the original house as one lot with some of the out-buildings and all the fruit trees and bushes intact. The house has been recently renovated and is gorgeous. The yard is a little overgrown. Don't I wish I could retire now (the job situation there isn't good) and buy the place. My sister was laughing about the looks of lust Brett and I were giving the place. Yes, our eyes were colored by nostalgia, but it is still nice. Below is my aunt and sister in front of The View. A long-time favorite restaurant, and not just because it does have a beautiful view of Cocolalla Lake across the highway (and train tracks between the highway and the lake for the train nuts in the family). It had closed for a while and then was bought and re-opened. A little cleaned up from before, but the food is still good. Aren't those flower baskets amazing!


Here are my sister and I at the top of Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort. You can see the northern end of Lake Pend Orielle in the background and part of Sandpoint at the lake edge to the right of me.


Last, I'll share this deer crossing sign. I kept thinking that Idaho was making some type of statement about the "proper" family unit, despite the fact that this is not the way things work in nature!


In addition to having fun catching up with family there, it was very relaxing and productive. Between the rip-outs and the finishing I'm down to 9 WIPs, and only one category still has more than one. Plus, for the first time since I tracked it my stash yardage decreased! Maybe because the one yarn store near my aunt had closed, but I'll take it. So here's the current WIP list:

Baby - 0

Hat - 1
Bonkers Hat

Household - 1
Log Cabin afghan

Mittens - 2
Yummy Mittens
Twined Wristers

Novelty - 1
Mini Flag

Scarf - 1
Angel Pearls

Shawl or Wrap - 1
Hanami

Socks or other footwear - 1
Travelers Socks

Sweaters - 1
Flora

Backslliding through July

Well my WIP count went up from 12 to 15 last month! Still no pictures. I really have to do that at some point, as Ravelry is looking pitiful.

One of the "new" projects is actually a scarf I started back in January, knit an inch or so and then forgot. The other two really are new, a baby sweater (which I confessed about in my last post) and another Noro Striped scarf for commuting.

So here's the list as of the end of July:

Baby - 1
Little Bubbles sweater

Hat - 1
Bonkers Hat

Household - 1
Log Cabin afghan

Mittens - 2
Yummy Mittens
Twined Wristers

Novelty - 1
Mini Flag

Scarf - 4
Angel Pearls
Unisex Scarf
Merlie Scarf
Noro Striped Scarf

Shawl or Wrap - 2
Leaf Lace Shawl
Hanami

Socks or other footwear - 1
Travelers Socks

Sweaters - 2
Flora
Philosopher's Wool cardigan - will be ripped as soon as I find it!

I'll also confess that I finished the Noro Striped Scarf today, but that's only one reason I have faith the number will be lower by the end of the month.

I'm going to Idaho with my sister this month to visit an aunt. The only plan is to hang out, catch up and knit. I suspect we may do some siteseeing since she has never been, so I may be over estimating the amount of knitting I'll do!

But in anticipation, a few weeks ago I dug out a lot of the WIPs, made sure all the necessary yarn, pattern, needles, etc. was with each one and packed each in an individual project bag (yes, I've bought too many of those on Etsy!). Seriously, I believe 7 of those WIPs are ready to go with me.

No internet access in Idaho (well there probably is some somewhere, but not where I will be), but if we do any siteseeing I'll post some pics.

Made some progress in June!

Well my WIP count went from 18 to 12 last month! Unfortunately, taking pictures of things haven't happen. Will try at some point.

The six that came off the list were evenly divided between ripped and finished.

Ripped projects include the latest 2-color Noro scarf (I just wasn't liking the two colors this time, so 1 scarf will become 2 when I find better matches for each), the Gaia shawl (just not loving the pattern even though I loved the shop sample, maybe the color matters), and Slippers for Her (after accidently pulling it off the needles when sorting a messy bag, but I hadn't gotten far).

Finished projects include Bronte scarf, Lacy Baktus scarf, and Desert Sun shawl. Two of those were projects that I could only do when I could concentrate. I have no excuses for why Lacy Baktus took so long!

So here's the list as of the end of June:

Baby - 0

Hat - 1
Bonkers Hat

Household - 1
Log Cabin afghan

Mittens - 2
Yummy Mittens
Twined Wristers

Novelty - 1
Mini Flag

Scarf - 2
Angel Pearls
Unisex Scarf

Shawl or Wrap - 2
Leaf Lace Shawl
Hanami

Socks or other footwear - 1
Travelers Socks

Sweaters - 2
Flora
Philosopher's Wool cardigan - will be ripped as soon as I find it!

I'll confess that I have started a baby sweater at the beginning of July. Maybe I'll finish by the end of the month, or maybe find the Philosopher's Wool cardi to rip it out. Or maybe even finish at least one more of the more complicated WIPs still on the list. Currently I'm focusing on the Unisex scarf.

Moving along well with the new plan

Did pretty well in May on the new plan to try and get down to no more than 1 WIP in each of those categories. The total WIP count has dropped to 18. I ripped out three - Mystery Stole 3, Aspen Glo Wrap and Finola. I decided the first and third just weren't me. The middle I'll probably start again narrower - I thought it was too narrow for a stole, but didn't think I had enough yarn to make it wider. But it was nice. I did carve out the time to graft together the Sunday Scarf. My first time grafting ribbing, so that was interesting.

I also started another Noro Striped Scarf for my trip to Geneva. I thought I would finish the Lacey Baktus before the trip ended if I took it. Of course, I had barely any time to knit, so wouldn't have finished the Lacey Baktus and only knit about 10 rows on the striped scarf. I'll admit I thought about ripping it out to make the count look better, but I'll need another easy project at some point.

Most of the month was spent focused on the Desert Sun shawl. I wish I'd made note of when exactly I picked it up again. This was from a mystery KAL in the summer of '06. I was following apace until the third clue, which I struggled with and eventually abandoned the project. When I picked it up again I worked through clue 4 pretty easy. I started the edging last Wednesday. There are 576 stitches around, and you eat up one of those for every 2 rows of the edging. Still, I'd hoped I might finish with the long weekend but no such luck. Currently, I'm 11/12's done, but I need to resist the urge to stay up and finish it as I have to get up at 3am for work for the first time in days. So anyway, here's the current list:

Baby - 0

Hat - 1
Bonkers Hat

Household - 1
Log Cabin afghan

Mittens - 2
Yummy Mittens
Twined Wristers

Novelty - 1
Mini Flag

Scarf - 5
Bronte
Angel Pearls
Unisex Scarf
Lacy Backtus
Noro Striped Scarf

Shawl or Wrap - 4
Leaf Lace Shawl
Desert Sun Shawl
Hanami
Gaia Shawl - still trying to decide whether or not to rip

Socks or other footwear - 2
Travelers Socks
Slippers for Her

Sweaters - 2
Flora
Philosopher's Wool cardigan - will be ripped as soon as I find it!

I have a couple projects to start soon - a pair of socks I promised a friend and a baby gift, but not until I finish Desert Sun!

Wow, I've been gone a while!

I'm not even going to try and explain. Very little knitting has happened though.

One thing I never got to the beginning of the year was my newest plan for trying to reduce the number of WIPs. For the most part I've been following it pretty close, except for a bad case of shawl startitis in February.

So here was the idea. I was only going to allow myself to have 1 WIP per project type. To the extent I currently had more than one, I was going to try and work those down. And only start something new when I had nothing in that category.

So, how do things look now?

Baby - 0

Hat - 1
Bonkers Hat

Household - 1
Log Cabin afghan

Mittens - 2
Yummy Mittens
Twined Wristers

Novelty - 1
Mini Flag

Scarf - 5
Bronte
Angel Pearls
Sunday Scarf - only need to graft the two halves!
Unisex Scarf
Lacy Backtus

Shawl or Wrap - 6
Leaf Lace Shawl
Desert Sun Shawl
Mystery Stole 3 - will be ripped soon
Hanami
Aspen Glo Wrap - may rip
Gaia Shawl - may rip

Socks or other footwear - 2
Travelers Socks
Slippers for Her

Sweaters - 3
Flora
Finola - will be ripped soon
Philosopher's Wool cardigan - will be ripped soon

So, currenly 21 WIPs, which, unfortunately, is 2 more than the beginning of the year. I'm also trying to focus on one project at home, currently Desert Sun (though I really should find time to graft that scarf!), and one traveling project, currently Lacey Baktus. The real problem with this plan is that there aren't a lot of things that are good traveling projects. So I may be starting something for that. Plus I promised to knit socks for a friend, and those will probably be started before the others in that category are finished.

2009 recap

I was reviewing my 2009 finished knitting projects yesterday, and I thought I'd share some observations.

Total finished - 23. One more than 2008. As much as I feel the knitting has really slacked off this year, it does appear I did more even beyond the one extra. 2008 was all small projects, and one (the christmas ornaments) wasn't even knitting.

2009 featured 3 large projects. Okay, so one, Toad's Aran, only involved the sewing up and adding a neck. But given how I abhor finishing (which is one reason for the mini projects), I feel rather proud of that one. The other two were large shawls that I knit start to finish this year.

It was also the year for repeat knitting - 2 pairs of Bella's mittens, 2 Striped scarves and 7 Darkside cowls. I've never been one to repeat a pattern before, so this is quite odd.

The last FO of 2008 and 2009 were both the same pattern - Striped scarves (so there have actually been 3 of those in quick succession).

So here's the actual list:

Arctic Diamonds Stole
Miniature Sweater Ornament
Pastel Bunny
7 Darkside Cowls (link is to the first)
Grace Kelly Scarf
Best Friend Scarf
Crystal Garden Scarf (first keeping up with a KAL!)
2 Bella's mittens (link to second)
Bactus scarf
Just Enough Ruffles scarf
Toad's Aran
Celtic Hearts Shawl
2 Noro Striped Scarves (link to second)
Concerto scarf
Naughty Reindeer hat