WIP Wednesday - February edition

Well, since the last time I did this I made just a little progress...although I haven't been entirely strict with the 2 to 1 rule. Two things did come off the list, (the sister yarn, and the chase the chill) as well as this little guy who was never on it, and two more jumped on, so technically that's a net decrease.  




On the needles
 (in order of cast on age, with approximate completion status, and links to the pattern I'm using, changes in bold)

Finished chasing the chill - still need buttons

1. Sock yarn blankie (10%) 
2. Dancing socks (75%)
3. Fern garden scarf (40%)
4. Hubby's annual sweater for 2010 (75%)
5. Diamond socks (60%)
6. Slump socks (60%)
7. Broken pumpkin socks (75%)
8. Interstices (55%) 
9. Exploration Station (99.99999% - seriously I just need to weave in the ends and fix a hole!)
10. Pinnate (20%)
11. Welcome back (80%)
12. Yummy Cowl (50%)
13. Rivercat socks (70%)
14. Prolly Folly (40% - what I named this says it all, I knew it was destined for abandonment)
15. Building Blocks (40% - took it out to frog and now I like it)
16. Pay it forward mittens (75%)
17. Peace 2016 (20%)
18. Ingwer (10% - for the ESK yarnathon Q1 knit a long) 
19. Snowmelt MKAL (20% - I blame my family for this)

On the wheel

The sister yarn

1. Trying for three - my first attempt at 3-ply, one bobbin full, second halfway there

On the loom

1. Clasped weave scarf  fabric current length 27 inches.

On the hooks

1. hexagon shawl
2. cuttlefish
   

On the machine

1. Jelly roll race - awaiting sandwiching
2. B's baby quilt - yea he's 6.5 - wanna make something of it!
3. Self designed overly ambitious quilt
4. Scrap shirt quilt

WIP Wednesday - Coming clean in the new year

Is WIP Wednesday still a thing? I'm going with yes.

Spoiler alert:  I have too many.  Way too many.   Thus I'm giving myself a challenge: I've decided for the next 6 months I have to finish or frog two knitting projects before I can start a new one.  It's a two for one.  We are also applying this principle to our house clutter, 1 in 2 out.  For instance, I got some awesome slippers for Christmas and that meant two very ratty pairs went into the trash bin.  Quality over quantity, less is more, blah blah blah.

Back to the crafts.  Here is the embarrassingly complete list:

On the needles
 (in order of cast on age, with approximate completion status, and links to the pattern I'm using)

1. Sock yarn blankie (10%) 
2. Dancing socks (75%)
3. Fern garden scarf (40%)
4. Hubby's annual sweater for 2010 (75%)
5. Diamond socks (60%)
6. Chasing the Chill (85%)
7. Slump socks (60%)
8. Broken pumpkin socks (75%)
9. Interstices (55%) 
10. Exploration Station (99.99999% - seriously I just need to weave in the ends and fix a hole!)
11. Pinnate (20%)
12. Welcome back (80%)
13. Yummy Cowl (50%)
14. Rivercat socks (70%)
15. Prolly Folly (40% - what I named this says it all I knew it was destined for abandonment)
16. Building Blocks (40% - destined for the frogging)
17. Pay it forward mittens (55%)
18. Peace 2016 (20%)

And for full disclosure there are 11 projects on my ravelry page marked as "hibernating", meaning I haven't frogged them, but I'm also not entirely sure where they are located in my home.  Maybe the endless decluttering will help with that.

On the wheel

1.  Sister yarn - two bobbins resting to be plied
2. Trying for three - my first attempt at 3-ply

On the loom

1. Clasped weave scarf  fabric current length 21 inches.

On the hooks

1. hexagon shawl
2. cuttlefish
   

On the machine

1. Jelly roll race - awaiting sandwiching
2. B's baby quilt - yea he's 6.5 - wanna make something of it!
3. Self designed overly ambitious quilt
4. Scrap shirt quilt

Bring on the finishing 2017!  Let's have this down to 10 UFOs by the end of the year!

Rediscovering my roots

I've fallen in love again.  I feel a bit like I'm cheating, but I just can't help it.  Please don't tell on me, I know my knitting will be sad, I've taken up with my crochet hook.  We've run off together for a little tryst.  But don't worry, it's only a fling, when I run out of yarn I will return....

What to blog?

I don't know what I should blog about.

Should it be the very exciting news that I'm going to be an aunt?

Should it be the flurry of knitting this news has brought on?

Should it be on the progress of Ellen's Afghan? (6 out of 99 squares complete!)

Should it be something thought provoking and insightful on the plight of a post-doc looking for a job?

Should it be to blushingly admit the social scientist in the house might be right?

Should it be to warn of no posting for 2+ weeks while I go on vacation?


Well, how about that, I managed to blog them all!

The saga of Ellen's afghan

I realized my last two posts were a little ranty and not so much fun. I'm really not an unhappy person, there's just some things in the world that bother me and I think are important to share. Then I looked at my stats and they are way up. I think that many visitors are coming from ravelry. Since none are commenting that lack of crafty content is probably bothering them. So as to not scare anyone else away I have crafty content for today!

First, I have a confession. I have discovered so many WIPs in my house that I'm embarrassed to put them all up on ravelry. The site is great though and I'm glad I did put one long hibernating WIP up on it becuase now it's there everytime I log in and it gave me a little kick in the butt to work on it again.

So here it is: The story of Ellen's Afghan.
I try very hard to make things for big events in my friend's lives. Weddings, babies, etc. Not everyone who should get something gets something, it really just depends on my free time when they get married or pregnant. For example the year we went to 10 weddings, no one got anything. Same true for the 6 babies in 6 months. The projects that do get off the ground often get backlogged and delayed and delivered very late (like on 2nd anniversaries). Ellen's afghan is one of those projects. I designed it from the 200 Crochet Blocks book so that it would be as special as Ellen and her fiance. They are wonderful people and deserve a wonderful afghan. I picked out the yarn, test crocheted some squares, decided on a hook and was ready to roll. Then I went into dissertation mode and defense mode and nothing else exsisted in my life. Ellen's wedding was two weeks after I defended. And two weeks wasn't nearly enough time to finish and afghan. So I made a scrap book, detailing the whole process for her, and promised the afghan would follow. That was in September. I've finished one square since then. Ravelry has shamed me and square 2 was done this morning. This is the project I'm going to bring for the plane next week. We'll see how it goes. But I've doubled the size already!