Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts

Thursday, April 7, 2011

General Update

In order of completion:

Sea Tide Socks: don't fit properly, and while I love the yarn, I hate the heel and how they fit.  Also, I cast off too tightly on one, so I have to work at it to make it onto my foot.  I need to find someone with long fat feet and skinny ankles.  I don't think this person exists.  So... I guess these will just kinda hang out.  Unless I decide to frog them entirely, which might happen, but is unlikely.
Fuzzy photo taking for the win!
Sweater update: am currently on skeins 2 and 3, and a little over half way through the first repeat of the main cable.  I might not need to do a full 3rd repeat, but we're not sure at the moment.  Also, the sleeves and armholes?  Still haven't worked that out.  I need to go the library and get some books.

I bought skeins 4-6 yesterday, completely emptying their stock.  And I need at least 10 more skeins I think.  The original pattern calls for about 1400 yards, at 217 yards/ skein= 7 skeins.  Double that since I have to hold the yarn double= 14.  Plus some extra because J is huge.  So I guess I'll have to do a special order.  Which is going to have to wait a paycheck, at least.

Pencil for scale again

Pirate Hat: someone gag me with a spoon.  It looks like a mini-skirt.  The pattern is overly fussy (yes, I realize the stupidity of the cosplay sweater being less of a pain than the soon to be felted hat).  Starting from the outside and working in may be the more logical way of doing this so it felts properly, but the decreases seem to be placed randomly and I'm currently at that awkward place where it's too small for the circular but too big for the dpns.  Also, that's not counting the pain finding size 13 dpns was.  And that's just borrowing them.  For a while, I was thinking I was going to need to sharpen a frickin dowel rod.  

Currently, this is on hold while I find the other ball of yarn that got moved somewhere over the weekend.  I currently don't even have enough to finish the row I'm now.  I'm pretty sure I saw it this morning, or at least the bag it should be in, but I was in a hurry and didn't have time to check.  I should be able to at least finish the knitting part of it this weekend, but probably not the felting.  I should probably go look up good instructions on how to felt.  Hrm.



Birthing Socks: These were originally supposed to be for me, in their toe and heel-less glory.  But those stupid stirrups at the dr's office get really cold.  And in summer, with it already being freezing inside due to the A/C? Screw that noise.  So these are now for Baby SH's mom.  Hopefully, she'll get more use out of them than just birthing, but, whatever.

Currently, there is no progress to speak of on these as I somehow dropped 7 stitches (or cast on the wrong number) while knitting from ball band to the heel, so when I went to increase for the almost gusset... bad things happened.  So it was promptly frogged.  I've about 3 more rows where I need to pay attention and then it drops into a much less attention needing rib.  Unless I decide to do the bottom in moss stitch for some extra cushioning?  Not sure yet.  This is definitely one of those pattern as a general guideline sort of deals.


Goals list:  I went through and pruned and updated it.  Every time I try to knit something for myself, it ends up getting turned into a gift anyway, so I just dropped most of the stuff I was doing for me.  I might add a second shawl in, as I found a couple patterns that are making me go all lustful and stuff, but that's still a maybe.  If I have time before Yule.  At this point, as long as I have a new pair of gloves/mittens and a hat by winter, I'll be happy.


Life in general: It's not looking particularly optimistic for getting a new job.  So I need to start looking for apartments.  And clearing out our crap.  If I get off early this afternoon, I should probably go find and apply for more jobs instead of playing with yarn.

Today is one of those days where you see why chemises, pettycoats and hairpins were invented.  At least then I'd be comfortable in my look like hell status.


Monday, February 14, 2011

FO: Baby W's Booties

And the matching booties are done too!

Poor kid isn't going to be able to wear these for a while (while Ravelry said they were newborn size, only if your newborn has ginormous feet) but they're cute.

Pattern can be found here (Ravelry link)

These killed the blueberry yarn from the blanket.  I guess somehow there was significantly less yarn in that skein?  I have maybe 1 foot left of it, not even enough to ball up for the cat.



These weren't too bad to make once I got it figured out.  The really tricksy bit was joining the tops (purple) with the bottoms (blue).  It really shouldn't have been as hard as it was, but the instructions weren't making sense in my head.  Theres a chance this is going to be the default bootie pattern for everyone, it's pretty easy to knock out over the course of the afternoon.  This is what I did while we were snowed in with the blizzard week before last.


The Baby Blanket that would not end (but did finally!)

It's finally done.  Finally.  Well, it's been done for a month now, but it's done and I have time to write about it.

Baby W's Circle Blanket.

overview of the entire blanket

These were all taken after I had washed it and blocked it out slightly (stretching it out on the living room floor counts right?)  Total measurement is 36 inches across, 113 inches around, 1017.9 square inches.

Close up of center
Total yarn use: Most of 1 skein each of Caron Simply Soft's blueberry, limelight, and grape.  I finished the blueberry skein making the matching booties.  There's probably enough of the limelight and grape to make another pair of booties, but I don't think I'm going to do so.


cat provided for scale.  If that's not particularly helpful, 36 inches

Overall, this pattern wasn't awful, except for the start.  The start, as I may have said before, was just infuriating.  3 hours to cast on is kind of ridiculous.  Accurately placing the stitch markers is really important for this one, as are tip protectors for when you have to put it down.  The biggest issue I ended up having was getting needles that the blanket would fit on as it grew.  I already had a 40 inch needle, but the 60 inch took over a month to arrive (and, apparently, the shop I purchased it from lost the notification that I had come to pick it up, as they called me last week to let me know it was in) which really slowed the whole process down.

The final edging I kinda just fudged.  It would have worked better if I had actually done the math and realized that 550 isn't divisible by 3 and 3x3 ribbing wasn't going to work very well.  But the end result ended up looking kinda cool and who's really going actually look at the ribbing when there's a pretty baby wrapped up in it?  Making it divisible by 3 would have involved another 6 rows and I was already in tears because I just wanted to be DONE with it.  (Knitting at 2 am because you promised yourself you'd finish it tonight?  Might not be the best idea ever)

When I make another one of these, I think I'm going to stick with 1 color and do different stitch patterns for each section.  Also, I will know better than to set arbitrary deadlines for it.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Goals 2011

By Jan 31, 2011
finish Baby W's blanket  Finished Jan 15, 2011, write up coming here

finish 1 pair of socks Finished March 27, 2011.  No write up.  Not happy with them.
pick out yarn and pattern for Baby C's blanket- Done Jan 8, 2011
Finish C&C's Christmas present
start A's socks

By Febuary 28th
corset for A started (edit 3/11/2011, may no longer be on me, nor her other garb)
finish Baby W's booties Finished Feb 2, 2011, write up here
start Baby C's blanket   Started Jan 23, 2011
paint onesies for Babies W & C (possibly S-H?)
finish A's socks  Finished 2/22, 2011.  Write up coming

By March 31st
finish Baby C's blanket  Finished 3/10/2011, write up here
Corset for A done no longer my problem
kirtle for A started no longer my problem
pick out yarn and pattern for Baby S-H's blanket- pattern picked out Feb 26, 2011, yarn picked and ordered Mar 22, 2011
start 1 pair of socks Started March 31, 2011.

By April 30th
Kirtle for A done no longer my problem
Over-dress for A done no longer my problem
Finish Baby C's booties Finished 3/20/2011, write up here

By May 31st
start Baby S-H's blanket
finish 1 pair of socks
pick out yarn and pattern for shawl

June 30th
Finish Baby S-H's blanket
finish Baby S-H's booties
start 1 pair of socks

July 31st
paint Baby S-H's onesies
start shawl
finish socks
pick out yarn and pattern for J's sweater.  Done March 13, 2011

August 31st
Knit 1 pair of socks
start sweater  Started March 14, 2011
reach at least half way on shawl
sew Starfleet Uniforms for Babies C and S-H

September 30th
start christmas/yule presents
finish shawl
reach at least halfway on sweater
start baby kimono

October 31st
start and finish 1 pair of mittens
finish sweater
finish at least half of christmas presents
finish baby kimono

November 30th
finish christmas presents
knit 1 pair of mittens

December 31st
knit 1 pair of socks.
make sure there are at least 1 photo of every FO in use
write goals for 2012