A Little Knitting

I haven't done a whole lot of knitting while on this trip because I've been playing with my new ipad mostly.  I have managed to get two more mitered squares finished though, so I'm fairly pleased with that.  Here are the finished squares.

Knit on...

The Travel Sock

As I was traveling yesterday, I did what I always do and started a new travel sock. I was even able to get a good chunk of the cuff knit.  Of course I brought a ton of things to work on while lounging around, but there should always be a travel sock when on the road in my opinion.

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas!  May you find lovely yarn and notions under the tree :)

Knit on...

A Finished Hat

Well, I finished the chemo cap for my friend's aunt.  I tried to publish a post from my phone, but it blew up, so here's the finished hat:

And I pulled out an old WIP from the craft room this morning.  I'll be trying to finish up the Noro mitered squares blanket that I started ages ago.  Looks like I had about 6 skeins of kuryeon in my stash, so hopefully this will be enough to finish up the blanket.

Knit on...

More Hat Knitting

I also worked on the windschief some last night on top of weaving the scarf.  I am now on the final crown decreases and should be able to finish up the hat at lunch today. Here is the progress so far.

Knit on...

Another Project

The great thing about having a loom at your disposal is the ability to make quick gifts that would otherwise take a much longer time. Tonight, a Christmas present for my new boss was started and completed within 2 hours. It was just a simple weave of yellow warp and blue weft for the school colors. Gotta love quick projects!

Knit on...

Another Work in Progress

The next project I am working on is the Windschief hat by Stephen West. I have made the hat before, but when a friend asked me to make a chemo cap for her aunt, I knew this pattern coupled with some lovely malabrigo would go wonderfully together. Colorway is nostalgia and it is being made on size 7 needles.

On a Roll!

I am on a finishing streak!  Finished the sweater, and then today, I finished a project that had been sitting in the bin for almost 3 years.  I had made four flowers after I returned from Korea, then put it aside and didn't touch it for three years.  I'm glad it's finished now, and despite it having more flowers than the pattern called for, it turned out really nice.  Here's the finished doily:

The pattern is the Rose Doily pattern that has been in a lot of booklets over the years.  Here is the Ravelry link: clicky

Knit on...

Finito!

Finished.  Done.  Complete.

Yes, after months of work and miles of garter stitch, on Thanksgiving day, I completed the pleated jacket.  It's huge, but I am in love with it.  It's warm and soft, and cuddly.  Anyways, here's a picture to prove that it is all finished now!

I also finished another pair of socks for Ms. Phyllis at work, but I finished those quite a while ago now.  I have been super swamped at work recently as there were a lot of changes in my department.  Long story short, I was promoted and given a lot more responsibility, which meant a lot of extra work to sort through as I moved into my new position.  Things have finally calmed down some, we are caught up, and I am getting back to crafting on my lunch break.  So anyways, here's the finished pair of socks:

Knit on...

Week 1 Finished Project

Week one of the great finishing is over and this week, I managed to complete the pair of socks that were my travel project.  It's much easier to finish projects when you have to sit in a dentist office for a while, so I knocked out the second sock that had been lingering and gave them to their intended recipient on Wednesday.  Phyllis liked the socks so much that she asked if I would make her another pair out of the remaining sock yarn since she has small feet and it didn't quite take all of 1 of the 2 balls of Premier Wool-Free Sock yarn that I had purchased.  I told her I would be more than happy to oblige since I wasn't sure what I would do with the other whole ball of yarn given I have giant feet myself.

Here's the finished pair of socks:

I have a nice, long weekend ahead, so I'm sure I will make some more progress on the WIPs that have been around for way too long now.  I'm about half way done with the left front of the pleated jacket now, so I'm hoping I can get done with that this weekend sometime.

On a side note, we have been watching season one of a Game of Thrones from HBO.  The library had the first season available, and we are about half way through it now.  It's a very entertaining series, especially since I have read the first two George Martin books in the series.  I saw that the library now has season two as well, so I'm sure we will continue with that once we finish up the first season this weekend.

Knit on...

The Great Finishing

So, now that the Tour de Fleece is over, I have set a little goal for myself.  Well, it's a lofty goal, but I do think it is attainable.  I am going to finish all my WIPs by the end of the year, or if I procrastinate, sometime in 2014.

The first WIP that needed to be done was a ruffled scarf that had been on the needles for over 3 months.  It's done now.

Sorry for the crappy picture.  I had dental work done today and I am just not in the mood to try to get anything better than something from the couch right now.

The next WIP that I have finished is the fish pillow made from a latch hook kit I bought almost a year ago.  Fishy fishy is all done now and pillow-fied.

Now I am working fast and furiously on the pleated jacket that I started a while back out of yak fiber.  I finished the back of it and am now working on the left front piece.  Here's the back:

Now, I still have a ton of WIPs left.  Off the top of my head, I have the following to finish:

1. Pleated jacket

2. Dragonfly beaded scarf

3. Fair Isle vest from the Knit Picks kit

4. Butterfly cross stitch

5. Skirt made from a vintage sewing pattern

6. Pair of socks on the needles now.

I will cast on new socks as I finish the ones on the needles.  I need to have a travel project, and lord knows, fair isle and beaded knitting is not nearly as travel friendly as a pair of socks!

Knit on...

Tour de Fleece Wrap Up

I didn't get a whole lot of spinning done this week since I was pretty much consumed at work with the audit, but I did manage to finish the final skein of llama yarn.  This morning, it is soaking in the sink with the rest of the Tour's yarns, so let me give you a wrap up and a final picture.

I spun 901 yards of yarn.  There are 640 yards of the Bob's Favorite Bird and 261 yards of llama yarn.  The Bob's Favorite Bird Shetland yarn is approximately 12 WPI and the llama yarn is approximately 9 WPI.  I'm happy I stuck with the Tour this year and I'm proud to show off the final product:

Now the yarns are soaking and I need to get them out in just a minute.

Knit on...

Still Touring

I'm still working on the Razzleberry fiber.  I realize that these pictures are rather boring as they are all the same tan fiber, but there is progress.

Now I get to see how much spinning time I get this week.  It's audit time at work, so that means lots of extra things to do and not enough time to get them done.  I am trying to at least get in a few minutes each day, but this week will really test me as to my Tour resolve.

Knit on...

Sunday Tour de Fleecing

Not much to update on today, but I did skein up the second skein of llama fiber and spun a few more singles.  I can't believe that I am almost done with this fiber!  I have had it in my stash for years now and it's just been sitting there gathering dust.

It's way over twisted, but I'm pleased with the overall look and feel of the finished yarn.  Now just one more bobbin to go and I'm done!

Knit on...

Tour De Fleecing

I'm still working on the llama fiber.  I Navajo plied up the singles that I finished the other day, so it's nice to have that done.  I even knit some today, so it's been fiberful.  Really, I am now just a fixture on the couch anyways courtesy of a 5k race this morning followed by a 10 mile bike ride.  I'm actually surprised my legs worked at all to treadle after that :oP

Anyways, here's a picture of the plied yarn.  It's not coming off the bobbin tonight because I'm too tired to clear off the table right now.

Knit on...

Some Non-Tour Posting

We interrupt this Tour de Fleece post to bring you a finished project.  I just wove in the ends on the hot pink Nutkins, and I am so pleased with how they came out.  Here they are:

 Well, I should say, here is one of them.  I have a very hard time taking pictures of socks on my feet.  This picture came courtesy of DF sitting next to me and me shoving the camera into his hands :oP

I also may have bought some yarn tonight.  I went to Hobby Lobby and they had some sock yarn on sale, and as I was explaining to DF, my sock yarn stash has dwindled down to 2 skeins.  This is dangerously low as far as I am concerned, so I can now breathe easier knowing that I have enough sock yarn to knit another 6 pairs of socks.  Most of it is Kroy FX yarn, but there are two skeins of Heart and Sole and two skeins of Wool-Free sock yarn.  I'm going to cast on a pair of vanilla socks out of the wool free sock yarn for a coworker of mine.  She always comments on my socks, but she can't wear wool without breaking out into hives.  This way she can have a pair of hand knit socks that won't try to kill her.

Knit on...

Tour De Fleece Day Something

I have lost track of the days in the tour now, so I'll just say, I have been spinning.  DF even grabbed a few interesting shots of me and the wheel:

I look rather bored in this picture.  I swear though, I'm really not and I'm enjoying the spinning of the llama fiber :oP

Spin on, spinning wheel!

Knit on...

Tour de Fleece Day 9

There's really not a reason to post a picture of the progress on the spinning today.  I did spin a bit, but the majority of the day was spent staring at this strange blue-colored sky and bright orange ball in the heavens.  It's been about 7 days since this area has seen that, so we took advantage of the nice weather and went for a bike ride.

So, more spinning tomorrow.

Knit on...

Tour de Fleece Day 8

Eight days in and I spun some more of the llama fiber.  I didn't get too much done today because I ran around the first part of the day running around with Renee as we amused ourselves inside JoAnn Fabrics while the rain poured down:

Then in the afternoon, I ran 4 miles with DF at the park and we went out to an early dinner after we finished the run and cooled down.  Now, I'm about to do some paint by number for the heck of it.

Anyways, here's the progress of the llama fiber:

Knit on...

Tour de Fleece Day 7

I ended up deciding to make this TDF about finishing up UFOs in the spinning pile.  After finishing up the Bob's Favorite Bird Shetland wool, the next fiber to hit the wheel is the Razzleberry llama fiber from a few years ago.  Here's what I spun today:

This evening, I had dinner with Kim and Kathy.  It was a bittersweet time since Kim is moving away this next week.  I'm certainly going to miss her, but thankfully, there is always the internet and phone to keep in touch.  We all certainly wish her the best as she finishes up her doctorate and works in the field that she loves so much!  Plus, you never forget the person who taught you how to knit!

Knit on...

Tour de Fleece Day 6

Today I managed to ply the skein of yarn from yesterday's spinning, and I also spun and plied up the last of the Bob's Favorite Bird.  I'm very glad to have all this done now, but it leaves me with a bit of a dilemma.  What do I spin now?  Guess I better contemplate that soon.  Here's the finished skeins:

I also finished up the blue and white bag I had been weaving today.  I decided it had sat there in two pieces long enough, so I sewed up the bag and it's now ready to be given to its new home tomorrow.  Here's the finished bag:

A happy Independence Day to my American friends and readers!

Knit on...

Tour de Fleece Day 5

Well, my Tour de Fleece spinning took a day off yesterday while I wound up in the ER with some kind of food reaction.  I'm still not sure what I got a hold of, but it did wipe me out enough that I did absolutely nothing other than sleep once I returned home.

So, today I picked up where I left off on day 3 and finished a bobbin of the Bob's Favorite Bird.  I'm planning on plying the two spun up bobbins either tonight or tomorrow for my day 6 spinning.  For now though, here's the finished bobbin:

Knit on...

Tour De Fleece Day 3

Not much of a post today, but here's a picture:

Knit on...

Tour De Fleece Day 2

For the second day of the Tour, I didn't get as much done.  I did spin some on the second bobbin of singles though.  Here's what I finished up today:

Not as much as yesterday, but that's all right.  I just want to spin a little bit each day during the Tour.  So far, so good.

Knit on...

Tour De Fleece Day One

I decided to spin for the Tour De Fleece this year.  I have neglected my spinning some while I have been working on other projects such as weaving and painting, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to dust off the old Ashford and spin the rest of the Yarn Geek's Bob's Favorite Bird.

At the end of day one, this is what I spun up:

One bobbin full of singles.  I still really like this colorway and find it very nice to spin up.

Knit on...

What Can Happen in Six Months?

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I last wrote a post on here.  It's been an interesting six months, with many things that have happened, but I think I'm just going to catch you up with what all I have been doing recently.

After I wound up in the boot from tearing the tendons in my foot (hard to believe that was already a year ago!), I noticed I was having an issue with knitting and my hand hurting, so I wasn't able to knit very much.  I did do some scrapbooking, some knitting for as long as my hand could stand it, and some spinning.

In the past 6 months, I have only knit a couple of things.  First, I knit one sock, which I just finished this weekend:

 

I also have been working on a jacket out of the yak fiber that DF brought me from Nepal:

 

 

 

So, not a whole lot of knitting progress to post about.  A couple of weekends ago though, DF and I went to the sheep and fiber festival and I decided I would get a loom.  I picked up the 15 inch cricket loom and I have been cranking out the woven goods ever since.  First, I wove a scarf as a practice piece:

 

Then, I wove a scarf out of some hand spun corriedale wool:

 

After I finished that scarf, I tried my hand at a bag:

 

Finally, I tried my hand at some plaid colorwork:

 

Right now, I have another bag on the loom:

 

 

So, I am cranking out the woven things now, which makes me feel like the fiber arts have returned in my life.  I was missing playing with yarn, and now I have a way to do that again!

 

Oh, and this weekend, DF and I decided to go to the beer cheese festival.  Yes, they really do have a beer cheese festival.  We ate at least 17 different types of beer cheese and cast our vote for which one we felt was the best.  We saw lots of different vendors that were not beer cheese related, and then we saw that we were walking on Beer Cheese Blvd:

 

I think we are officially beer cheesed out now.

 

Knit on...or weave on...