Ravelympics Wrap-Up

In among all the other things I spent February doing, I participated in the Ravelympics. This year I decided to be somewhat more realistic than I have in previous years, and actually take my regular life into account when planning! I decided to make a pair of Fuzzy Feet slippers, originally published in Knitty.

Basically, you knit an enormous sock (worsted plus jumbo needles) and then full it to fit. The knitting went quite quickly when I was actually doing it - total time to knit was in the region of 6 hours, give or take. That gave me these:



Then came the fun part. I don't have a toploader, and even if I did, I don't have a zippered pillowcase to keep felting lint from destroying the drains on the washing machine. So, manual labour. I started the fulling process by back-and-forth plunging in icy and scalding waterbaths. This got me to the "omg-so-hairy" phase, but I needed more friction to make the fulling happen. So, into the bath with some Fairy liquid to crush grapes, or in this case squish slippers. An hour later,



I'm happy with my results, since this is my first fulling project. But it's a sort of good news/bad news situation. The bad - the lint resulting from the fulling process triggered an allergic reaction, so I'm never going to be able to wear these. The good - my spouse and I have the same size feet, so he now has a lovely pair of slippers!

Socks! At Last!

I broke down and ripped out the toe of the first Rock and Weave sock. It was just too short. And since I had plenty of yarn, it wasn't really a problem. And now they are finished! I'm wearing them right now, in fact. :D

And since it finally dried, here is a bonus photo of the alpaca I spun last weekend.

Today I'm enjoy the sunshine with some masham fiber on the wheel, a wedding dress on the hook, Santa on the embroidery frame and nothing on the needles! No, I haven't finished all my WIPs. (Yeah, right!) I'm just spinning and crocheting mostly right now. Looked around and realized that most of my current active projects are crochet. It goes quickly, and I have high hopes of getting one or two of my Mission:Possible projects done this month.

A year of needlework

2008 has rocked on the making front. 47 finished projects, some started this year, some started a long time ago. Rather fittingly, the last two projects of the year are my oldest and newest! I had hoped to squeeze in the second Rock and Weave sock, but decided that there were other things I wanted to do more.

So, the breakdown. In 2008 I finished:

• 2 embroideries
• 4 baby projects
• 6 hats
• 3 shawls
• 8 scarves
• 7 pairs of socks
• 4 pairs of fingerless gloves
• 2 'home' projects
• 6 pieces of garb
• 5 'other'

I have 8 WIPs, more yarn than I started with, and many, many plans for the year to come. I'm joining Mission:Possible again, but this time I'm having a much more general list.

1-4: Socks for me. I'd really like to get to a point where I have enough handknit socks that I don't have to wear store socks unless I want to.
5: A sweater. Either for me or the hub, but I want to knit more real clothing.
6: The ripple afghan. Bored now, would like to finish.
7-9: Shawls for me. I have a ton of yarn designated for shawls, I should really knit some.
10-12: Gift knitting from my 2 bags of gift yarn.

These projects can include WIPs, since my other knitting goal for 2009 is to get all of my WIPs finished.

Additionally, I'd like to finish at least one major piece of embroidery and make more garb, since we're going to more events now. Especially summerweight garb and stuff appropriate to my persona.

I find that I'm much more picky about yarn purchases now. I still enjoy shopping, but I tend to only get things that I know I'll knit. I suspect that most of 2009's yarn will be from the sock club membership my grandmother gave me (thanks Grammy!), and for the Christmas stockings I want to make for the hub and myself. I've also been destashing some stuff that I know I'm never going to knit with. The cotton is pretty much all gone, because it hurts my hands. The remaining acrylic is going to become granny squares when I'm between big projects, eventually being turned into a second cushion.

Here's to 2009!

Planning for next year

Yes, it's early to be planning, but I have time to think right now and I might not later! So, planning it is.

I am nowhere near being down to 60 balls of yarn as I'd originally hoped, and it doesn't look like I'll be getting there by the end of the year. Karma swaps are certainly helping, though - I've gotten rid of 12 balls this month and only brought in 2! (I also got a book, but knitting books don't count as stash.) I am, of course, still knitting and hooking away, so there will be a further reduction before the year finishes.

As I realized earlier this year, I have enough yarn to make about 50 projects. That being the case, I am going to attempt 2 months of knitting exclusively from the stash in January and February. Depending on how that goes, I'll hopefully continue to do that for 2-month blocks. There is a project I've committed to knitting that will require a purchase of yarn (one of my reenactment friends needs some stockings), but other than that I don't have anything planned that needs new yarn.

Mission:Possible is coming back for another round in 2009, so I will be joining that again. I've got a few projects that I've absolutely committed to, so I thought I might as well post the tentative list here!
1. S's wedding dress. Yes, one of my friends is getting married and has chosen a crocheted wedding dress - a backless 40s style number in green Alpaca Silk. Yum! I'll be starting that as soon as the yarn arrives, but I am quite sure that I will still be working on it next year.
2. Gansey for the husband. I have decided that until I know exactly what he will and will not wear, I'm going to make a Gansey rather than an Aran sweater. Half the yarn, half the time. Plus he doesn't have nearly enough sweaters. This will be using the giant balls of cream wool I got last year.
3. A shawl using my Sundara silk laceweight. I haven't decided which one yet, although I'm leaning heavily towards the Icarus Shawl from the Best of Interweave Knits. (Really ought to pick up a copy of that book!)
4. Stockings for Reenacting Friend. Need to get about 200g of black fingering weight silk/wool for these - I'm leaning towards Regia Silk. I can get that here in London, so not a problem.
5. Swan Lake Stole. This was the Mystery Stole that I signed up for ages ago and never knit because I didn't have the right yarn. Well, I have the right yarn and the right beads, so I'm good to go!
6. and 7. 2 pairs of socks for me which are NOT MONKEYS! Enough with the Monkeys already! :D
8. Cabled gloves for the husband. I've been promising these for over a year, I really need to just make them.
9. Scraps. I have a lot of yarn left over from various projects, so I would like to make something exclusively from scrap yarn. Hub is rather enamoured of my granny square pillow, so I might just make another one.
10. Shawl for Reenacting Friend. Assuming that I don't end up making it this year, I'll be doing another Shetland Triangle with the Kauni yarn I got last month.
11. and 12. - No idea yet. Will wait until inspiration strikes!

I will hopefully be attending iKnit Day and the Knitting and Stitching Show next year, so would like to have lots knitted up by then so as to allow guilt-free shopping! (I didn't make it to the Knitting and Stitching Show this weekend thanks to a miserable cold. Boo.)

It's good to be a Knitter

I walk to and from work. It's about 35 minutes in either direction, so good exercise for me every day. Now that it's autumn in this hemisphere, my knitwear is really coming into its own. Last night I walked home bundled up in my Dr Who mitts, my Tapestry scarf and the red hat I made last year. Today I walked in wearing my Calorimetry and my tiger-ish Jitterbug socks. I am fantasizing about mittens, gloves and more hats. And let's be honest, more scarves. I really need more scarves. I don't yet have any made out of cashmere, for example. Shocking! :D

I realized this morning while doing my daily round of blog reading with breakfast that there is a reason my brain is telling me to make more socks. It's the 3rd of October. More accurately, it is the third day of Socktoberfest! I have never participated in this before, but I think that now is a good time to start. I have 3 pairs of socks on the go, plus another half-a-dozen or so that I want to cast on. I think that socks and I have a weird relationship, truth be told. I love wearing handknit socks. I love giving people handknit socks. I love the thought of knitting socks, and I love having socks in my bag to knit. I don't really like knitting socks. They get incredibly boring by the time I get to knitting the heel flap. I like the way toe-up socks fit, but all my favourite patterns are cuff-down and I'm too lazy to convert them. I could probably avert the heel flap boredom by using a different heel, but again there's the lazy factor. Oh well. I shall keep knitting socks, knit the occasional toe-up number when I'm going nuts over heel flaps, and be bored occasionally. It's better than not having handknit socks!

Many, many projects

So, I realized that I have quite a few projects that haven't been blogged about yet. But first, I have a FO to show off! Yesterday I spent a couple of hours in a coffee shop with friends and discovered that the mitts I was making for Weaving Friend were very nearly done. So while watching NCIS last night I just finished them. They fit nicely, and since we have the same sized arms they should fit her. Very easy - cast on 48 stitches, K2p2 rib until you get to the thumb, BO 8 stitches and work in rib until the hand's long enough.

The best part, other than making something nice for a good friend, is that I barely broke into the second ball of yarn. So I'll definitely have enough to make the pair of gloves for myself that I'd originally intended with the yarn!

Since I finished a project, I decided that the time was right to start another one. This is actually better than it sounds, because this is one of my Mission:Possible projects. I'd originally meant to make a pair of Anne-trelac socks with this yarn. However, through reading around on Ravelry I discovered that the ankles are very baggy on most people. Since I find most normal socks way too baggy in the ankles anyway (darned skinny ankles) I decided to cut my losses and make another pair of Monkeys. Yes, this is the third pair I've made this year. But they fit perfectly, they are inutterably comfortable, they look good, and I've memorized the pattern. Oh, and for some reason they are totally adictive to knit. I'm falling back on my bribery method of knitting as a result. "Finish a couple inches of scarf, knit Monkeys. Work on sock of doom, knit Monkeys." Et cetera.

My Branching Out scarf finally got started at the beginning of this month too. Since Summer of Socks ended on the 1st of September, I decided to rearrange the stash so that the stuff for projects in my immediate queue was out. These skeins had been hanging around since my birthday, and I really wanted to knit them up. Ironically, now that I've got it underway I'm thinking that it may not actually be what I want to do with them. I'm not really liking the tweed with lace effect much.

Finally, this is, yes, you guessed it, another garter stitch scarf. For anyone who's been wondering what I do with all the scarves I make - I wear them. Of all the ones I've made, I've only given away about 4. And 2 of those were fun fur and one was a special request. Every single other scarf gets worn by me. I wear them almost every day, especially now that it's getting colder. But given that this is London, it's rarely warm enough that I don't carry a scarf around with me just in case. I always have a pair of mitts and a hat with me, and I carry a scarf 9 days out of 10. I find that I just get cold, and even if I'm not cold enough for a coat, a scarf is a marvellous this to wrap 'round me. I spent much of July and August in scarves.
Since I wear them so often, I need lots in many colours and styles to suit my mood. Scarves are fabulous!

Interim photos

I'm participating in a Stashalong, which in theory is supposed to be helping me with the not buying of yarn. I think we all know how that's going! :D Anyway, one can earn yarn purchases by participating in themed knitting over the course of a month, and I earned three skeins in August by completing some WIPs.

I was picking up some new circular needles that I needed for a couple of projects in the pipeline, and decided to pick up two of my three skeins. This one is going to become yet another scarf, and this one is going to be some over-mittens for my too-thin gloves.

First day off is going well

For I have just finished my Charcoal Monkey Socks! They are snuggly and warm, and fit just as well as the last pair. I am very happy.

One less WIP, and one more finished project for the Ravelympics. I have about 4 days left in which to finish my Pomatomus Socks. Better get slogging! (Also one more pairs of socks for Summer of Socks. Woohoo!)

May I present...

...one finished Swallowtail shawl! Cast off last night, spent today blocking, wove in the ends about half an hour ago.

This is my first lace shawl, and in fact my first laceweight lace anything. I am feeling very, very pleased.

Specs:
Pattern - Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail Shawl
Yarn - slightly less than one skein of Posh Yarn Eva 2-ply
Black seed beads from my local bead shop.
Time elapsed while knitting - 4 months. 75% of the knitting was done in the last week and a half, though.
Mods - didn't make the nupps. Replaced some of them with beads, though not all, and added beads to the peaked edging. Used a "slip two together knit-wise, knit one, pass slipped stitches over" decrease instead of the recommended double decrease because I need things to be symmetrical.

Thoughts:
I love this pattern. In all likelihood I will make more once I've recovered from the shock of knitting most of a shawl in a week and a half. It's a perfect way to use a small skein of expensive laceweight. It's small, so definitely not a "wrap-around in the depths of January" shawl. More of an extra layer of warmth for a formal evening thing. Or perhaps an event where one might meet a knitting celebrity. I'm just sayin'. :D

I like the yarn/needle combo. Yes, there was enough yarn left over that I could have added repeats or gone up a needle size or two, but I don't like stockinette stitch that is too open looking. This is pretty much perfectly how I like it. My knitting got slightly tighter as I got less scared of breaking the yarn and once I started using a metal needle instead of a bamboo one, but it didn't make a noticeable difference in the finished piece.

Blocking is amazing. It gained about 4 inches in all directions once I'd done the deed. I went for a full soak and pin rather than a pin and spritz. Really glad I did, because there seems to have been quite a lot of excess dye on the yarn. It's definitely colourfast, but I had to rinse it several times after the initial soak. I probably could have stretched it a bit more, but with the silk content of the yarn I didn't really want to risk it.

The scariest part of the whole experience was trimming the tails of the yarn once I'd woven them in - I didn't want to get the shears anywhere near the lace!

Definitely going to be making more lace in the future. My only problem now - how the heck do I store it?

More haste, less speed

I managed 6 of the remaining 8 rows on the chart last night. Then my body decided to wake up an hour early this morning and I finished the other 2 rows. So that chart is done!

I went and did my usual morning things, tea, breakfast, clothing etc. And I decided that since the first row of the next chart was just knit stitch all the way across, I'd quickly crank it out before work. And of course, 5 stitches before the end of the row, I looked back and realized that I'd very cleverly left out the 2 yarnovers either side of the centre stitch. So rather than getting home to a headstart on the final chart, I will be tinking back to the centre stitch and putting in the bloody YOs. How annoying!

Still. The final chart is pretty, and I've got that feeling of downhill knitting that I sometimes get at the end of a project. As though the momentum of the knitting is so great it carries itself forward whether I will or no. I really, REALLY want to finish this on Saturday. I got another big chunk of Monkey gusset done over lunch too, so in a perfect world, I'd finish the shawl on Saturday, the Monkeys on Sunday morning, and then get to devote the whole of Sunday afternoon to the green Poms. Fingers crossed!

Going well over the weekend

I decided that since I absolutely cannot work on my Swallowtail Shawl anywhere other than at home, I would take advantage of the horrible wet weather and work on the shawl all weekend. I completed the 14 repeats of the second chart and have moved on to the first beaded chart. And my goodness is it slow. I've got over 200 stitches on the needles now (in fact I've moved over onto a circular needle for just that reason!), and each row takes forever! Still, it's looking good, and I'm enjoying working on it. I have high hopes of getting it finished soon.

Poms are started, but I didn't really do much on them since I was working so much on the shawl. I've done a few more rounds, and am really looking forward to getting stuck in.

I finished the heel flap and turned the heel of the second Monkey sock last night while watching the Seventh Seal. It's true what they say - you can't watch subtitled films and knit from a chart at the same time! Still, the film was fabulous, and it's good to make progress on the sock. It's now back in my handbag. I'm hoping to finish it up over this week's lunch-hours.

Best of luck, Ravthletes! Best of luck, Olympic Athletes!

Ravelympics have officially started, and I have cast on for the first Pomatomus Sock! Lovely spouse recorded the Opening Ceremonies for me, so I will be watching them this evening while I knit. In keeping with the spirit of these Chinese games, I will only be knitting 8 rounds of ribbing on the cuffs of my socks.

I love watching the Olympics. I was born in an Olympic year. It's hard though, deciding who I'm going to support. I grew up in three different countries, and so part of me wants to support each of them. Generally, though, I end up cheering for Bulgaria. I've watched them be awarded several medals, and it never fails to get me choked up.

Of course, I get choked up watching the Opening Ceremonies too! It's the procession of the athletes into the stadium that does it for me, especially for the countries that only have one or two people participating. When you have a huge population, putting together a spectacular Olympic team isn't really that impressive. Nuaru, though? Or St Kitts? That's impressive sportsmanship, in my opinion.

Ravelympics and the Yarn Harlot

The plan was to make the Ivy League Vest to wear to meet the Yarn Harlot, just because I have this thing about wearing my handknits whenever I go somewhere knitting-related. Then my best friend gave me enough cotton for a tank top, and I thought that a tank top would be quicker, so I'd do that instead. Then I discovered that I didn't have any needles that would give me the correct gauge for the top. Back to the drawing board.

Then I was looking over my WIPs, and was pondering the possibility of WIP Wrestling in addition to my Sock Putt entry. You see, I could wear my Swallowtail Shawl to meet the Yarn Harlot. And that would mean that I wouldn't have to race to finish an entire sweater of some description between now and the first weekend of September. I was looking at the shawl last night and discovered that I've actually completed 10 of the 14 repeats of the main chart, and they are going quite quickly now that I've got the pattern memorized and the centre stitch marked. Then it's just the charts with the beads to finish, and a bit of edging. I think it's doable. Plus I really, really want to finish the Monkey socks I've got on the go at the minute. I'm halfway through the heel flap of the second sock, and they are going to be SO COMFY!

So, I've now signed up to attempt all three projects for the Ravelympics - my original Pomatomus Socks, the Swallowtail Shawl, and the Monkey Socks. I can wear 2 of the 3 to iKnit Day to meet Ms Pearl-McPhee. And it will be good. Fortunately, tomorrow night (the first big session for me of Olympic knitting) my spouse is going to be spending the evening at a beer festival. I will have the flat to myself, and can knit away to my heart's content. Or discontent, depending on how well my chart-reading goes.

There is only one question left to be answered. Which project will I work on first?

Mission:Possible review

It's now August, so I thought I should probably look over this list again.

1-4: Finished four of the original list - Monkey Socks, Black shawl, Dr Who leftovers, alpaca neckwarmer.
5: Finish Swallowtail out of crimson Eva - still in progress, but I'm working on it here and there
6: Finish the crocheted ripple bedspread that will use up most of my acrylic stash - slowly getting bigger, but right now it's too hot for a lapful of afghan!
7: Knit something, however small, out of some of my 6 skeins of Tapestry - FINISHED!!
8: Knit a pair of Anne-trelac socks - not yet started
9: Knit a pair of Pomatomus socks - not yet started, will work on these for the Ravelympics
10: Mystery project (I may have signed up for a new mystery knitalong) - not yet started
11: Finish Interlocking Cables sweater - FROGGED. The yarn will be repurposed into an Aran sweater for the husband at some point in the future.
12: Knit flag for the 198 Countries Peace Project - FINISHED!

What a weekend!

I have finished my flag, putting me one project closer to ending the year with no WIPs, and one project closer to completing my Mission:Possible goals. I think I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon having a leisurely swatching and working on socks session. I'm trying to relax prior to the frantic knitting that will commence on Friday for the Ravelympics!

I did in fact go to the shop yesterday for the needles I need for the vest. Got the needles I needed. Took my knitting friend who has a newborn with me, because she really needed a baby-free couple of hours! And she decided to treat me, since I've been helping with Baby L and generally providing adult company and conversation. So I now have a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock and a new book!

Then in the later part of the afternoon, a bunch of friends came round for tea and biscuits and I acquired more yarn. Newly Knitting Friend had been to the John Lewis seasonal clearance sale a few weeks back, and when I told her over the phone that I couldn't afford to go to a yarn clearance sale, she decided to get me 6 balls of Rowan 4-ply cotton in a lovely pale orange colour, since I'm "the only person she know who likes orange". Enough lightweight cotton for a tank top!

I have really lovely friends.

Reality Check

A while back I blithely decided that I wanted to finish the year with no knitting or crocheting WIPs. Well, it's nearly August, and I've got 13 of the buggers outstanding. Plus at least 3 more that I absolutely want to get done this year (2 pairs of socks for Mission:Possible and that Fair-Isle vest I bought the yarn for in March). 16 projects to be finished in 5 months. Well, let's think about this for a minute.

• The booties are a quick win. I cast on the second last night and will probably finish it this week. No Problem.
• The flag is half-done and is just garter stitch and a tiny amount of embroidery will finish it off. No Problem.
• The coatigan needs both sleeves and a collar, plus I need to do 10 minutes of work on the lapels, make button loops and sew the buttons on. Time-consuming, but doable.
• 4 pairs of socks - Monkeys are about a third done (finishing up the foot on sock one), the socks I'm making for Mum are at the heel flap of the first sock, and the other 2 pairs (Anne-trelac and Pomatomus) are not even cast on yet. But Anne-trelac is toe-up stockinette until I get to the foot, and I'm planning to do Pomatomus for the Ravelympics*. Challenging but possible.
• The mitts I'm making for Weaving Friend are barely started, but it's 2x2 rib on 4mm needles. No Problem.
• Red Swallowtail is about a quarter done. However, I love it totally and utterly and WILL NOT ABANDON IT! Doable.
• Chenille scarf is a mindless tv-watching project. It's fun, it's chunky yarn on big needles, and there's only 1 skein of the stuf. Doable.
• Seed stitch pillow that I'm making for Best Friend is a toughie. I really enjoy working on it (yes, I'm one of those sick people that enjoys seed stitch), but it's barely started. Will really have to crack on in order to finish this. Possible, but challenging.
• Slippers - doable. I made the last pair in about a week, so there's no earthly reason not to finish these. Other than the boredom factor. Doable.

Then there are the last four projects. There is the lacy grey scarf that I've been working on forever out of Kidsilk Haze. I keep thinking I must be nearly done by now, but I swear the ball of yarn is getting longer as I knit from it. It just doesn't shrink! I think I'm going to need to find a set of scales that measures in grams and figure out how much yarn is actually left to knit up.

There is the rippled bedspread that would go really quickly if it weren't HUGE. I'm working on it every so often in the evening while waiting for the spouse to come to bed, but right now it's just too hot to work on an acrylic blanket.

There is my half-hexagon shawl of loveliness that I am absolutely not going to get finished this year. It's just too big, and the rows are getting too long. I will finish it someday, but not right now.

And then there's the vest. Ideally, I'd like to have this done before I go to meet the Yarn Harlot the first weekend of September. Which would mean that in the next 5.5 weeks I need to knit 2.5 pairs of socks, 1 booties, 0.5 of a flag and an entire steeked Fair-Isle vest. Yeeesh. Wish me luck!

*Ravelympics - a fun(!) thing organized on Ravelry where you choose a knitting or crocheting project, cast on during the opening ceremony and finish it before the torch goes out at the end. And you're supposed to choose something challenging. I've never finished a pair of fingering weight socks in less than a month, much less a pair this tricky! I have strategically taken the last 3.5 working days of the Olympics off, just in case...

Progress and admitting the need to change

First of all - I finished the chemise yesterday! I haven't actually tried it on yet, but it fit after I'd sewn up the major seams, so I'm pretty sure it's ok. I will try to convince the husband to take a photo of it tonight, since I'm now working on his green tunic. I'm getting faster at hemming, so managed to do half of the huge neckline today over my lunch hour. It was good.

In other news, I have been thinking more about Mission:Possible. As it stood from the beginning of the year, there was no way that I was going to complete everything after taking up with the SCA. Sewing is just too time-consuming.

So, rather than abandon the Mission entirely, I’ve decided that I’m going to rework my goals into something a little bit more realistic given my new commitments. Because this is about making progress on using the yarn instead of hoarding it, finishing the projects instead of letting them hibernate! So, my new and improved and achievable goals:
1-4: Finished four of the original list - Monkey Socks, Black shawl, Dr Who leftovers, alpaca neckwarmer.
5: Finish Swallowtail out of crimson Eva
6: Finish the crocheted ripple bedspread that will use up most of my acrylic stash
7: Knit something, however small, out of some of my 6 skeins of Tapestry
8: Knit a pair of Anne-trelac socks
9: Knit a pair of Pomatomus socks
10: Mystery project (I may have signed up for a new mystery knitalong)
11: Finish Interlocking Cables sweater
12: Knit flag for the 198 Countries Peace Project

Not too different from the original list, but reduced a fair bit. I think it's doable!

Plans and lists, for I'm obsessive like that

I have a bunch of stuff that I'm making or going to make that has an external deadline on it and needs working on. Plus I have a bunch of projects that I'd really like to get finished just so that they are done. So, I'm going to do a calendar run-down with deadlines and things to help keep track of what needs doing.

May 22-31: Finish enough garb that the hub and I each have an outfit to wear to the revel on the 31st.

-finish hemming bottom of chemise ASAP
-sew up seams of green tunic, teal gown and red gown on 24th with E's sewing machine
-hand-finish tunic and teal gown once machine sewing is done
-hem veil
-if time allows, apply trim to teal gown and cut out and assemble a pair of braies

ALSO work on mum's birthday present and the bedspread when not able to sew.

June 1: Camden Green Fair. Today I can work on anything I want, and may buy up to 100g of yarn providing I have a plan for it.

June 2-9: Cut out, hem and embroider handkerchiefs for Coronation. Keep working on mum's birthday present when not sewing.

June 10: Day trip to St Albans - birthday knitting on the train and in the purse.

June 11-17: hand finishing on red gown, repairs on red tunic, cut out blue court tunic for the hub, birthday knitting as and when, hopefully finished by June 18, swatching for silk gloves

June 18: pack before going on holiday, no needlework!

June 19-26: visiting mum, finishing up any remaining handsewing plus making blue court tunic and possibly pink gown, Socks on Vacation for SoS

June 27-29: Coronation - knitting silk gloves, maybe finishing some inside seams if I can be bothered.

June 30-July1: Bugger all. Two days off playing in London!

July 2-18: SoS will start properly for me at this point, since all the sewing will be done. Also knitting flag for the 198 Countries Peace Project

July19-31: SoS continues. Other priority project is the Swallowtail shawl

August 1-7: break from socks prior to the Knitting Olympics - will work on one of the Mission:Possible outstanding projects. Probably Interlocking Cables.

August 8-24: Knitting Olympics, during which I will attempt to knit an entire pair of Pomatomus socks in 17 days.

August 25-31: Interlocking Cables sweater and last few days of SoS

September 1-5: finish Interlocking Cables

September 6 - iKnit Day and the great wearing of the sweater to meet the Yarn Harlot herself! A small amount of stash enhancement is also permissable

September 7-10: anything I want to work on or cast on for

September 11-15: Raglan Ffair - silk gloves again

September 16-30: very little of anything, given that term starts and I will be exhausted from freshers.

October-December: finishing up as many WIPs as possible - ideally I'd like to start the New Year with no unfinished knitting, crocheting or sewing projects. NB sewing not embroidery - I'm ambitious, not clinically insane!

Pomatomus is no more

I don't know why I didn't trust the designer. The Monkey socks are the best socks I've ever made. Of course she had a reason to go up a needle size.

In other words, although I could still get it onto my foot, the first Pomatomus was a little on the tight side. So I frogged it. RIP! I am being much more demanding on myself recently. If it's less than very good, I don't tolerate it. Although it did take me almost a fortnight to admit to myself that really I'd be happier with a looser sock.

I've managed to build myself quite a nice schedule at the moment. On the 31st of this month, I've got an SCA event for which the husband and I both need garb. I have 6 full days of weekend to spend sewing between now and then, and only 3 pieces of clothing that must be finished. Hopefully this is doable. I'm spending my weekdays on knitting and crocheting both to avoid sewing-induced RSI and because, well, I like knitting and crocheting better than sewing.
Then in June I can devote my free time to making my mother's birthday present on weekdays and sewing more garb and some handkerchiefs for Coronation on the last weekend of June.

Conveniently, Summer of Socks 2008 starts the weekend before Coronation. So in theory, I should have all my sewing done by that point, allowing me to throw myself headfirst into an orgy of sockish wonder. Now that I've frogged the Poms, I have enough sock yarn for at least 9 pairs of socks. Maybe if I use it all up during SoS, I can buy a bunch more at one of the autumn knitting events I'm going to!

I will be revisiting the Poms at some point in the future. The pattern is great. But in order to make a nice fabric on 2.75mm needles, I'm going to need a thicker sock yarn, like Emily or Lucia from Posh Yarn. The yarn I was using for the Poms is probably going to end up being another pair of Monkeys.

And we're sorted again

This weekend just gone was one of the best and most relaxing I've ever had. Fantastic birthday party for the husband, who is 30 today(!), a truly impressive haul of leftover wine, glorious sunshine, fresh air, oh, and some knitting and sewing.

I seem to have recovered. It was a case of not really doing much of anything on Saturday, I think. Then in the late afternoon I picked up my mostly finished chemise on a whim, and somehow managed to hem the entire collar in 2 hours or so. Stopped because I had cramp in my left hand, and decided to cast on for a new project. This one's a summery tank top in cotton - basically two rectangles sewn together in a couple of places. Alternating bands of garter and stockinette stitch. I'm doing this one in stripes, with the garter stitch bands in a mystery blue-green cotton that a friend gave me, and the stockinette bands in white cotton that I picked up in a charity shop a couple of years ago. It's worked on 6mm needles, which means that it goes very quickly.

And then I did a bit more sewing. I've nearly finished the last seam, then I need to hem the wrists and bottom. Then it's done! Who knows, I might even post a picture of me in my medieval underwear.

And then there was frogging. A while ago, I started making a Shedir hat in the recommended yarn calmer, which is a cotton and microfiber blend. Lovely stuff, but when combined with 1x1 cables, it gives me neck cramps and muscle spasms. I picked it up, knit for 10 minutes, couldn't turn my head, and ripped the blasted thing out. I'll do this pattern someday, but in wool. Of course, that left me with a single ball of yarn with no pattern, which is just bad. So I went over to Ravelry to browse, and spotted a very nice set of Odessa hats made with Calmer. It's a lovely spiraling lace pattern with optional beads. I thought I'd leave the beads out so that I didn't have to go shopping, but I realized that I already had a small packet of lovely clear glass beads which just happened to fit the yarn and match it nicely. And I had the right sized needles! So I promptly cast on for that as well. I finished the ribbing last night and am starting the patterned part later today. It seems to be going quickly, especially since the needles are a couple of sizes bigger than the Shedir needles.

And I packed everything away in preparation for the party, so I'm reveling in not having so much stuff out. It really feels good.

I'm also thinking about dropping out of Mission:Possible. Basically, I'm making a ton of progress on my projects. I've even finished the neverending black shawl. There is no deadline for anything that was on my list of 12, and I actually do have several other projects waiting that do have deadlines. Plus, now that we're playing in the SCA, I've effectively committed myself to a crap-load of sewing year-round. I even somehow got myself signed up to make some Coronation gifts, which need to be done by June. Plus, I'd really like to get cracking on my silk gloves. I'll think about it for a while longer, but I'm thinking that this knitalong is one to which I'm really not suited.

(And I may have just signed up to have another go at Summer of Socks.)