January Sock Fail . . .

In the interest of New Year, Fresh Start, blah blah blah, I vowed that I would get back to knitting one pair of socks each month.  I even paired stash yarn with patterns, printed the patterns, dug out the yarn, and bagged them all up for a Personal Sock Club like many other knitters are doing.  I had a pair on the needles that I planned to finish up in January, and then I could start picking a random bag each month and knit a pair of sock.

 

So, with just over 10 hours left in January, how do you think my plan is going?  Any guesses?

 

 

Yup, big fail!! 

 

New plan?  Finish the January socks during the first few days of February.  Then knit really really fast on the February pair.  I could work, right?

August Knitting Goals

Okay, I'll admit it.  It's time for a true confession.  I barely knit a stitch in the whole month of July.  *gasp*  I've come to realize that summer just zaps my knitting mojo.  I admire those knitters who crank out socks and lace in the sticky humid summer months.  But I'm just not one of those knitters.

Luckily, the humidity broke after some heavy thunderstorms on Friday.  The weekend found me itching to wrap my hands around some yarn and sticks.  We won't mention the fact that instead of knitting on any of my WIPs, I cast on something new.  Seriously, at least I was knitting again, so who cares what the project was.  Plus it was a small, quick knit that is a gift - so I think I get a pass on that!!

So, for the third month in a row, I present to you the exact same knitting goals.

• Finish those Monkey Socks.
• Finish that Kristina Bag.
• Finish Sitcom Chic.

I swear, I'm going to get at least one of these goals crossed off by September, even if it means we have to order take-out every night and eat it in our unwashed stinky clothes amidst our sinfully messy house.  Let's just hope it doesn't come to that!

July Knitting Goals

Last month I decided to get back to my Monthly Knitting List.  I set some achievable knitting goals for June.

And I didn't achieve a single one of those goals!

Will that stop me?  Hell no!  Here are my July Goals.

• Finish those Monkey Socks.
• Finish that Kristina Bag.
• Finish Sitcom Chic.

Big surprise, huh?  Let's see if I can knock them off this month!!

June Knitting Goals

For most of 2007 and part of 2008, I used to set monthly knitting goals and post them in Knit Lists.  I'm not exactly sure why I got away from that.  Maybe I felt that knitting should be relaxed and fun, and the knitting lists were getting in the way of that?  Maybe I was too embarrassed when each month came to a close and I couldn't cross any of the projects off my list?  Maybe I just plain forgot about them?

In any case, I think I'm ready to start my monthly lists up again.  After all, I'm a huge List Person.  I'm constantly making lists of anything and everything.  So, here's what I'd like to accomplish in June:

• Monkey Socks
  
  
  
  
  I've finished 4 of the 6 pattern repeats for the first leg.  I'd love to finish the pair by the end of the month.  But I'd be happy to get through the heel turn of the second sock by July 1st.
• Kristina Bag
  
  
  
  
  I'm just finishing up the last pattern repeat.  Then, I need to do the top and the handle and felt it.  And then install the zipper.  It's not as much as it sounds, and I should easily be able to finish this in June.
• Sitcom Chic
  
  
  
  This has been in my queue forever.  I've got some old Cotton-Ease in Popsicle Blue that would be great for this.  I think I'll swatch for it today and hopefully cast on tomorrow.  I'd love to have it done for vacation at the end of the month, but that's kind of doubtful.

I think that's plenty for this month.  We'll see how it goes.  What are you working on in June?

Happy New Year

So, we all made it through the holidays. I don't know about you, but it feels good to get back into the old routine. Of course, I'm not quite there yet. I'm still a bit under the weather with that evil cold, and Pea is home sick with it too. Oh well, at least I got the Christmas decorations down, and all my gifts put away. Tomorrow I'll tackle Pea's gifts, and over the weekend the tree is going too.

Now we all get to savor a new year. It is motivating, isn't it? All the things we are going to do differently. I love the feeling of a fresh start we get this time of year. I've already come up with my new knitting plan for 2008.

I will only have three active projects on the needles at any given time:

1) One of my current WIPs, which I will work in until it's done. (Right now I'm still plodding along on the Perfect Pie Shawl - just a bit more than one wedge left, then the edging). Once all the WIPs are done, I will start one "large" project at a time.

2) Socks. First up are the ribbed socks I started in November. Once they are done, I will draw a sock yarn at random and knit it up.

3) A gift: I think I will start with another pair of socks. (I'm in a bit of sock withdrawal.)

Also, I am knitting everything with stash yarn. (I just finished logging ALL the rest of my yarn into Ravelry - the yarn from Rhinebeck and from Christmas - and I could easily knit for years without buying any new yarn). So, no new yarn until Rhinebeck, except for yarn I might happen to get for my birthday and yarn I buy with the gift card my mom got me for Christmas.

Do you have a knitting plan for 2008?

Hello December

My goal last month was to reduce my outstanding WIPs by one third. I had 10 projects going, so if I had only 6 there in December I'd consider it a success! Although I only finished two, I bit the bullet last week and frogged three. So I consider it a great success, as I am down to five things to finish up.

Sunrise Circle DONE!!
Ampersand Socks DONE!!
Blanket for Charlie - FROGGED!!
Pillars of Atlantis socks - FROGGED!!
Snowflake Shawl - FROGGED!!

Of course, December is not your normal month. It's CHRISTMAS KNITTING MONTH!! Although I've knit a pile of gifts as part of Holiday Headstart, I'd like to squeak out a few more small ones.

I also joined the Top 10 Stash Projects KAL. The idea is to choose 10 projects you will knit with stash yarn from December 1 to March 31. During this time, no yarn shopping will be done (with an exception for charity knitting or yarn to give as a gift).

Click button for details

Goodness knows I could knit endless projects with all my stash yarn, so it was easy to choose 10. It's a mix of Christmas knitting, those last five WIPs, and a few new things for myself at the end as a reward.

1. Beaded Gloves from Handknit Holidays
2. Swiffer Cover - pdf link
3. Hats (does anyone have good suggestions for a chemo cap for a man?)
4. Finish my Perfect Pie Shawl

5. Finish Tahoe

6. Finish the Casino Shawl

7. Finish my Mystery Stole

8. Finish up my Ribbed Socks

9. More socks (I've got enough sock yarn to knit for years!!)
10. Felted Bag (maybe Sophie?)

Whew!! December is always a busy month, so we'll see how far I get by January. I'm not going to put unrealistic expectations on myself . . . we'll just see how it goes.

Happy November

I swear, I must have been unconscious for part of October, because I don't know how it went by so fast. Another Monthly Knit List to go over already? Here are the projects concerned.



Let's see where we stand:

1. Finish the Casino Shawl - NOPE, not even close, as you can see from the upper left corner of the picture.
2. Dig out and finish Sunrise Circle - Close, but not quite. That's it on the bottom, with two small side seams to be sewn, buttons to be attached, and loops to be made. Maybe tomorrow??
3. Finish that Market Tote I started in August. - DONE - you can see most of it in the upper right corner.
4. And, because October is Socktober, socks, socks, socks!! - Sort of. On the bottom you can see two pairs in progress. I'm on the second Ampersand Sock and almost done with the first ribbed sock.

Since I've adopted my Finish It or Frog It motto, I'm not going to do a formal To Knit list this month. My goal this month is to reduce my outstanding WIPs by one third. A quick look in my sidebar shows I have 10 projects going, so if I have only 6 there in December I'll consider it a success!!

What are you knitting this month? Are you thinking about Christmas knitting yet?

(Hopefully) a false alarm, and October Knit-List . . .

First I want to thank everyone for the good advice and wonderful sympathy after I freaked out on Sunday. I have a bit more of the stash to go through, but so far things are looking good. Poor Pea was home sick yesterday with that cold, so he helped me closely examine much of my yarn. We haven't found anything to send up a red flag about, and I also see no evidence of moths in any other areas of the house. Of course, I've stuffed lavender scented dryer sheets everywhere as a safe-guard for the future. They are giving me quite a head ache, but it's a small price to pay to protect all that beautiful yarn!!

*Big sigh of relief* On to the knitting. First, let's re-cap September.

1. Finish either the Cape Cod socks or the Pillars of Atlantis socks. - DONE!! I finished my Cape Cod Socks.
2. Knit another Amanda's Squatty Sidekick for Holiday Headstart. - DONE!! I'll be posting it next time.
3. Knit the Casino Shawl - Not even close to being done, but I have been working on it. It still take quite a bit of concentration, but it's very fun to work on.
   

Not bad work for the month, I'd say. So, what's next?? In the upcoming months, one thing I want to work on is finishing all old projects that have been put into Hibernation. So, here we go . . .

1. Finish the Casino Shawl.


2. Dig out and finish Sunrise Circle. (I actually dug this out a few days ago and have been working on it every day! I hope to finish knitting it by Friday and seam it next week!!)
   


3. Finish that Market Tote I started in August.


4. And, because October is Socktober, socks, socks, socks!!

September???

How the heck did the summer go by so fast? Time for another monthly knit list already? I didn't even finish my last one. Here's what happened.

1. Finish my July Holiday Headstart project - DONE!!!
2. Knit a pair of Fetchings for my August Holiday Headstart project - DONE!!! (Although I never got around to posting them. Heck, we all know what Fetchings look like though.)
3. Finish the first Seduction Sock - Nope. I ended up frogging these. I did start the Pillars of Atlantis socks in their place, but haven't quite finished the first one. I also started a new pair of socks when we went to Cape Cod. I'm almost done with the first one.
4. Finish Mystery Stole 3 - Nope, didn't finish this either. When the theme and the "wing" got announced, I put it into hibernation so I could figure out if I wanted to knit the wing or not. I've decided that I will knit it as written, with the wing, but I'm not sure how soon I'll pick it up again.

So, for September I think I will keep my list very short and try a little project monogamy. Here's what I have planned.

1. Finish either the Cape Cod socks or the Pillars of Atlantis socks.
2. Knit another Amanda's Squatty Sidekick for Holiday Headstart.
3. Knit the Casino Shawl! I just bought this pattern today and cast on the 305 (!!) stitches, so I'm ready to go. I'm a little bit afraid that it's going to give me a knitterly smack-down, but we'll see.
   

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

That's me (and probably most of you) laughing at my July Knit List. As I said in the last post, I greatly underestimated how much summer would zap my knitting mojo. I also greatly underestimated the time I would need to spend on the second half of my Creating Web Pages II class - we've been covering things that are brand new to me. It's so much fun, but takes a lot more time. Another thing I didn't foresee was that I would join, and become totally enraptured with, Mystery Stole 3. I have to admit, when the knitting mojo does decide to make an appearance, MS3 is usually the project I pick up.

But enough excuses, let's see how I did:

1. Finish the Zephyr socks - DONE!!!
2. Finish the Seduction Socks - Nope, I don't even think I touched them at all.
3. Finish Tahoe - I did manage to finish the left front. I still have to knit the right front and the sleeves.
4. July Holiday Headstart project - I did work on these a lot, but they aren't quite done.

So, one out of four? Not so good. I'm going to take off the rose-colored glasses and be a little more honest with myself while coming up with my August Knit Goals. Here they are.

1. Finish my July Holiday Headstart project
2. Knit a (quick!!) pair of Fetchings for my August Holiday Headstart project
3. Finish Mystery Stole 3
4. Finish the first Seduction Sock

Now that's a bit more realistic, don't you think??

Good bye June, Hello July

Another month is over already?? Hmmm, I certainly didn't do very well on my June Knit List:

1. Finish the Zephyr socks.- One is finished, the second is still in progress.
2. Finish a pair of footies I'm working on. - DONE, and posted!!!
3. Finish the May Holiday Headstart project. - DONE, and will be posted soon (hopefully with a better picture).
4. Knit the Squatty Sidekick purse again as my June Holdiay Headstart project. - DONE and felted and drying upstairs. I'm hoping if I put it out in the sun tomorrow, I can sew on the button after dinner and post it on Wednesday.
5. Finish Tahoe. - Not even close. I barely worked on it at all this month, which is a shame because it's chilly and I could be wearing it right now.
6. One small "diversion project". - I did a little dishcloth, does that count?

So basically, all I got done was three very small projects and one very small pair of socks. Let's see if I can do better in July.

1. Finish the Zephyr socks. (again)
   
2. Finish the Seduction Socks.
3. Finish Tahoe. (maybe this month . . . but probably not likely)
   
4. July Holiday Headstart project.

Seems do-able, right? Maybe. If my web classes don't have too much homework . . . and it doesn't get too hot to knit unbearably hot . . . and if . . . .

see? full of excuses already and it's only the second day of July!!

Good bye May, Hello June

Is it just me, or did May really fly by? I can't believe June is already here. Unfortunately, my Knit List was unprepared for a new month as well. Here's what did (or didn't) happen in May:

1. Finish Red Koigu Socks. - DONE!!! I know, I haven't posted them yet. They will be in my next post, I swear.
2. Knit Tahoe. - Well, this one depends on how you look at it. I did knit SOME of it, but not all of it. The back is done. However, all of the places where I wove in ends look terrible. Does anyone have tips for weaving in ends in slippery cotton/viscose yarn?
   
3. Plan and knit a May Holiday Headstart project. - Not done. We may all remember when I failed miserably at this one. I did start a backup project, but I was discouraged by the purse failure and never really got into knitting the May gift. It's on the needles, but not finished.
4. Try making a little felted tote that I've been planning in my head. - Okay, I didn't actually knit this. But only because I've been sewing so many little bags lately, I didn't need the felted tote after all. So I'm crossing it off, because I did MAKE a bunch of totes (even if they are neither knit nor felted).
   
5. Start a pair of Zephyr socks. - YES!! I'm working on the foot of the first sock.

Hmmm, not so good. I think June needs to be a Finish Up month and hopefully I can do much better. Here's what is on the list:

1. Finish the Zephyr socks.
2. Finish a pair of footies I'm working on. (Not on the May list, but I cast them on anyway. I'm sure that contributed to my failure in completing projects on the list!)
3. Finish the May Holiday Headstart project.
4. Knit the Squatty Sidekick purse again as my June Holdiay Headstart project.
5. Finish Tahoe. This will also knock one off my Summer Knit List! Hurray for multi-tasking.
6. One small "diversion project" . This is where I am reserving the right to cast on something new if the urge becomes more than I can bear. It will most likely be a second pair of footies or a dishcloth.
   

What do you have planned for June knitting??

Out with April, In with May

Making that list of projects I wanted to finish in April seemed to work out really well for me. No, I didn't finish everything on the list (I didn't expect to either), but I did get more done than I thought I would. Here's how the month ended up.

1. Finish and block Kiri Shawl in time to wear to a wedding on April 15th. - Done!!
2. Finish second Monkey sock. - Done!!
3. Finish a pair of Fetchings as March Holiday Headstart project. - Done!!
4. Find and knit something for April Holiday Headstart project. - Done!! I knit an Elefante. Look for the FO post soon.
5. Finish (or at least work on) Red Koigu Socks. - One is finished, and the second was cast on last night.
6. Swatch and start Tahoe when yarn arrives. - The swatch is done and drying. Maybe I can cast on today.
   

It seems that these monthly lists will help keep me focused and motivated. The April list certainly kept me from casting on a million new projects and not making progress on any of them! So, here are my May goals:

1. Finish Red Koigu Socks.
2. Knit Tahoe.
3. Plan and knit a May Holiday Headstart project.
4. Try making a little felted tote that I've been planning in my head.
   
5. Start a pair of Zephyr socks.
   

Getting back on track

Thank you all for the sympathetic comments to my little flood last week. I don't deal well with those home emergencies and found the whole thing overwhelming. But, yesterday some lovely delivery men from Lowe's came with these:
Nothing like shiny new appliances to make everything seem better. I love having my freezer on the bottom now - it's so much more convenient and I have to wonder why these models are so hard to find? The household budget isn't very happy about the purchases, but they were very necessary and our tax refund will cover it. So things are looking good. I even managed to catch up on all my e-mails and blog reading today. Now if I could only get the reading done and quizzes completed for my on-line courses, I'd be completely back on track.

Speaking of getting on track, it's hard to believe April is here already. I think a monthly To Knit list is in order, to help me figure out what exactly my goals and deadlines are and to help me finish projects instead of knitting out of control. So, my goals for April are:

1. Finish and block Kiri Shawl in time to wear to a wedding on April 15th.
2. Finish second Monkey sock.
3. Finish a pair of Fetchings as March's Holiday Headstart project. (Ooopps, yes, I'm a month late on that one.)
4. Find and knit something for April Holiday Headstart project. (I think I have something picked out, just waiting for the pattern to be released.)
5. Swatch and start Tahoe when yarn arrives. (Would love to finish in April too, but that's not likely.)
6. Finish (or at least work on) Red Koigu Socks.

That's quite a list, so we'll have to see how it goes.

April has also brought a new round of Runagogo. I did manage my 100 Miles by April 1st, and I've reset my ticker for Round 2. But I've upped my personal goal to 200 miles. I think that may be a bit much, but if I can make it to 150 I'll be happy. And if I end up doing the 200, I'll be extra proud! Want to walk too? It's not to late to join.