Life got turned almost literally upside down and I can’t even talk about all of it just yet – let’s just say that the New Year will see a few surprises 
Anyway, knitting:
I’ve made another Citron Shawl. Didn’t I swear off doing another one of these? If I didn’t, I should have. It’s made of Cascade Baby Alpaca Lace (again) in a beautiful icy-blue colour. No modifications other that my lazy Make-1.
I made Simon a sweater. It’s the Darling Darby Sweater which is fully customisable and fits him perfectly. No modifications but next time I’ll go down a needle size for the ribbed neck. I used GGH WollyWash for it.
I finished my Monkey Socks and have been wearing them – they are bliss to wear. They also are the proud owners of my first perfect kitchenered pair of toes!!
Winter hit faster than I wanted, and when the latest Knitty came out, it had an Escargot hat. All my hats from last winter had been given to the Salvation Army so I really needed one. It’s done in GGH Alpaka using brown and pink for the colours. I’m planning another in the reverse (brown contrast, pink main) so I can change it up if I want. The first is currently blocking in front of the heater.
Before I knit that though, I joined a Cowl Kal to make the Niagra Cowl. I made it out of GGH WollyWash. I am also part of the I heart Cowls Kal which I will be doing over January with some alpaca for my daughter (see below).
(no photo – sorry)
I’m currently working on my Girl Friday Sweater. The last sleeve has just the decreases to do and then it all needs to be blocked. However, I need to be realistic here – I was hoping that I could get the sleeve done and get everything wet-blocked before Sunday. NOT HAPPENING. Even if I got the sleeve off the needles this morning and the entire sweater soaking this afternoon and pinned out this evening – I doubt it would be dry unless it stayed in front of the heater. Guess a place in the house with the least amount of blocking room? I’m lucky I could get the hat on a small table and I’m already having issues keeping Simon off it. I guess I could pin it out on the dining table – in the non-heated kitchen, but how long would that take to dry? Would it mould being wet for that long?
Since saving the draft for this post, I left it up to fate. I finished the sleeve and threw the sweater into a bucket of Eucalan overnight. It got pinned out the next morning and after just checking it, it seems nearly dry. I know better than to trust that, so I’m leaving it there til Saturday evening.
We did some furniture shopping, threw out most of the stuff in our living room, so now we have a new 2-seater, an electric lazy chair (not a lay-z-boy, but same idea), tv stand, bookshelf, two new desks and desk chairs. It was a bit insane while doing the furniture shuffle but it has been so worth it.
Along with the big furniture shuffle, we kept my old desk, it now is the home of my new hobby – sewing. My neighbour and I got matching sewing machines while they were on special and she is helping me to learn to sew. This all started with a trip to the StoffenMarkt when it was in the area and I realised that it was cheaper to make my own clothes than to buy them. After a quick chat to my better half, he agreed to the machine. I have a Singer Promise 1409 and it’s getting a lot of use.
My first semi-project was a stuff toy bone for Simon which was his favourite toy for a while (he’s since moved on to cat-toy balls).
My first real project was a sock sack. This is a SUPER EASY pattern. I modified it to add a lining out of my contrast fabric so that it looks neater on the inside. It’s full of mistakes, but I love it. I love it so much, that I’ve made another, have cut out and started a third and am planning on making TWELVE in total.
Why would I need 12? In 2010, The Yarn Harlot did a Self-Imposed Sock Club. She pre-picked out a skein of yarn, matched it to a pattern and put both into a ziplock bag. She did 12 of these bags and every month, she grabbed one with the aim of finishing that pair in that calendar month. Needless to say, this idea has caught on and lots of knitters now do it, there’s even groups on Ravelry for it.
There is no way I want to do twelve pairs of socks though, so I used the stash feature on Ravelry and virtually cleaned out my stash. I have 12 projects using one or more skeins of yarn all matched up on a piece of paper on my desk (and also noted with links to patterns in my Rav profile). My list includes five pairs of socks, five shawls, a dishcloth month using my Sugar and Creme and a blanket. Completely do-able right? If I’m smart, I’ll leave the dishclothes til late in the year and use that month as a catch-up month as well. My first three projects are determined – a pair of socks, a shawl and the blanket, but for the rest of the year, I’ll try keep it random. I doubt I’ll want to do two shawls or pairs of socks back-to-back, but we’ll see how I feel. This Self-Imposed Club also gives me a year to build up my stash for the next time I decide to do it.
I won’t be working solely on these projects, I also plan a few more sweaters for Simon, a cowl for my daughter (she’s asked for one), a few cowls, hats and fingerless gloves for me and maybe a mystery shawl if one pops up that calls my name. However, all those extra projects use stash that I currently don’t have. But I can buy required yarn as it pops up.
I was thinking about this Self-Imposed Project Club when I thought I should do something similar with my sewing. I don’t have a sewing stash (yet!) but I can plan to do at least one project a month.
I know that so far, there are a few projects that I want to do. Firstly, the other nine sock sacks, a weighted pincushion/tool holder, clothes for Simon, a notebook cover, more toys for Simon, a quilt (is this too extreme?) and some clothes like shirts, skirts and shorts for Summer. I think that should keep me busy enough.
I’ll do my fingernails later. This is the brightest pink nail polish that I own.
