Monochrome

WIP

A slouch hat and a pair of convertible mittens, in shades of grey, are in my project bag for the week. Hoping to finish them soon so I can move on to something more colorful in these dull winter months. Though the greys do match my mood as well as the snowy, frosty trees.

In the midst of exam week, so reading is limited to lesson prepping and essay reading. 

Linking with Ginny. 

No School

Day one: Below zero temperatures. Definitely not what I want to deal with. Luckily, school officials thought that below zero temperatures that hovered near -20 F warranted closing school for the day. So I get a day with my snuggle bunny, a gas stove, and warm tea. Well, and exam prep, but we'll pretend that's not there for a while...

Who can work with this cutie around?

Day two: snow snow everywhere. Last night I closely watched the school closings, and I dreaded the morning as I saw many school districts along my 40 minute drive to work announcing that they would be closed. Luckily, my district also decided to close for this snowy and cold day. 

So another day to get things done. But day two gets to be more interesting than day one. 

As part of my 6000 g weight stashdown, I present dryer balls

Wool dryer balls are a great way to use up stash that just appeared in your closet. No, the yarn didn't just appear, but I never had a plan for it-- a co-worker was destashing, and I find it hard to resist wool. I'm contemplating offering these for sale in pairs, but am struggling with the best way to market them. 

Mitten Cuff

I'm working on mittens for a friend who requested them in time for cold weather. Oops. The cold is already here, and the mitts aren't done. Patterns were eluding me, so I'm adapting several to fit my needs and vision.

That's all for me on this pair of snowy cold days-- off to do less glamorous (but totally necessary) chores like laundry and dishes. :)

God Bless!

One Wednesday Closer

Getting closer to the end of my student teaching! Teaching the 3 branches of government and Renaissance & Reformation for the next few weeks, cut in half by Spring Break. Woo! Going to read some Shakespeare with my World History kiddos-- wish me luck!! :)

Working on the Pineapples for Everyone CAL, in Caron Simply Soft Paints. I just finished up the first skein, and am starting on the second. Hoping the yarn will be enough. Love the yarn, might be too busy for the pattern, but feels so soft!!

My little hands for size comparison

I shared another project earlier this week, a slouch hat in Chroma & Bare (KnitPicks), and have since started to make a pair of fingerless mitts to match.

Not true to color

This is closer to accurate color. 

I'm still trying to keep up on the Cold Sheep Along, as it runs through April. So far, I've crocheted almost 1500 yards! (My monthly best so far this year is 2070 yards, and I'm hoping to surpass that this month.)

(Anyone in the Midwest sick of the snow yet?!)

Head over to Tami's & Ginny's to check out more progress & happy yarn-y things!

Fingerless?

There is just no way, with my schedule, that something I post as "WIP" on Wednesday is going to be a finish on Friday. It just doesn't happen.

This gives you an idea of size

But a girl can dream, right?

Gratuitous pic of nail color and engagement ring. I'm testing out nail colors for the wedding. 

If progress happens, it'll be over the weekend, most likely. And I do plan on having a pair of something--fingerless mitts or full mittens-- on Monday.

Onto my question:
I am working on mittens. The pattern includes an awesome thumb-space. I really just want to stop and have a pair of fingerless mitts. Except I already have several pairs. And I legitimately need a pair of wool mittens.

(Another ring shot) This is a better representation of color

Should I persevere?

Linking with Tami, even though I'm not quite finished....

Working on... Mittens!!

Even though the weather's been pretty crazy here in the great Mitten, going from freezing temps to thunderstorms and flooding, I've been encouraged by several Ravelers to go ahead with my plan to make a nice pair of wooly mittens.

A lovely cuff. 

I've had several pairs in my queue for a bit, and last night I settled on Mrs. Murdock's Mittens, a very basic pattern. I really wanted a pair of wooly mittens for the cold drive to school in the morning. But the weather's been weird, and I haven't had time... You know the drill. Hemming and hawing, and not getting anything done.

But, since I did make some progress on my parents' afghan over the weekend, I felt like I could start a new project. I'm working these mittens in KnitPicks Wool of the Andes, originally bare, but dyed green by me with Kool-Aid and food coloring.

I'm still working on my Snowdrop(s) but they're already at the point where progress doesn't look like much.

Linking up with Tami for WIP Wednesday!
Being busy with teaching leaves only small amounts of time for blogging and crafting, so even though I am hopping around and checking out all the cool stuff, I don't always have time to comment. I hope you still feel the love :)

WIP Wednesday

It's been a week or two since I've linked up with Tami's WIPW, but I have stuff to share this week (And I've prepped in advance!)(but it's still short. and lacking photos. Sorry loves)

I've been slowly working on a Mezzaluna, but am now nearing the end. If only it was portable for taking to school. I love how the pattern looks though, and with my new Knit Picks Chroma yarn, it looks awesome!



I have a few rows lefts on another Shallow Waters scarf-lette.

There are two crochet mitten patterns being mulled over in my brain right now (Friendship Mittens and Mrs. Murdock's), and I really want a chance to work on them, but don't know when I'll be able to.

Besides that, I have a few long-term WIPs that I want to get out again and work on. But, again with the time thing. Teaching is a busy business. One ripple afghan and at least one block afghan, both hoping to be resurrected this weekend... Maybe.

Done and Done!

No pictures today, because I'm at work, but I wanted to share my joy with everyone!!

I am officially (minus end-weaving) finished making all the Christmas gifts!!! Yesterday I finished off the last infinity scarf for one of my good friends, and this morning, I started and finished the second fingerless mitt for my aunt!

Anything I make after this is just an added bonus-- I can think of at least 2 projects that would be nice to have done by Christmas, but are not necessary to have done.

E and I are spending Christmas with my family, and New Year's with his, so I'll be busy this coming week. Christmas Blessings to you and yours!!

(Linking up with Tami!)

Holiday Stashdown Challenge Week 17

Last week Marie wrote out a list of weekly goals, and I thought that was a great idea. First I had to decide when I wanted all my projects finished. I figured either the week of Thanksgiving, or the week after. It would give me 11 to 12 weeks to finish things up. But because so many of my gifts are fluid and subject to change, I'll plan goals through mid October, and re-assess from there.

But before I get into writing out my goals, I want to address last week's goals. Last week, I expressed the desire to finish 5 afghan squares, 5 star ornaments, and one of my knitting WIPs. Both crocheted projects were easy goals to meet. I even went over my ornament goal, making double what I had planned to make. The afghan square goal was nearly met, as you can see from the photo above. 4.5 instead of 5. But considering the time it took to make them, if I tried harder, I would've done fine. (Counting the half square as a whole square, I am now at 18/30 squares)

However, the knitting goal was not met. I am very close to dividing the front of the vest for a V-neck, but not there yet. I know if I spend a whole day working on it, it will definitely be finished. The scarf for my sister is taking a backseat to the vest, as the vest was basically a gift promised nearly 4 years ago. My brother's birthday is next week, so my goal is to have the vest completed by then. Only problem with that is I will need to find something else for him for Christmas.

Anyway, onto my goals for the next 3 months:

By week of 9/11: Finish knitted vest for Brother 1.  4 more afghan squares (to bring the total to 22).

By week of 9/18: 4 more afghan squares. 5 more star ornaments.

By week of 9/25: 4 more afghan squares. Finish scarf for Sister
By week of 10/2: Afghan completed- squares pieced together and all ends woven in.
By week of 10/9: Scarf for Brother 2, fingerless mitts for Aunt 2, Scarf for A.
By week of 10/16: Hat for E, Start activity rug for E's nieces & nephews.

Be sure to check out Marie's post for this week- more inspiration!

So many projects, so Little Progress!

I have been a busy bee this past week. We had really bad weather most of the weekend- lots of rain and chillyness- so I hid away in my bedroom.

Audiobooks have been my really good friends all summer, because I can read and knit/crochet at the same time. This week, it's been Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Of the 7 books, I like this one the least of all. Harry did so many stupid things, and I think after the long wait (GoF was published in 2000, OotP 2003), it was a disappointing book to me. However, I still love Harry, as the majority of my adolescent reading was comprised of him. I'm more than halfway through the book, and have made progress on a variety of things, but nothing has made it to completion yet.

I'm still working on my hat commissions, having stalled on the adult sized hats. In all my time making smaller child and baby sized hats, I've forgotten how long it takes to make normal adult sized hats. Oops! I'm trying to finish the adult sizes first, otherwise I would probably be making more progress.

I started a pair of fingerless mitts with the Felici yarn I bought a couple of months ago, and I love the self-striping nature of the yarn!! They look like they are requiring a lot of effort, while in reality the yarn does most of the work for me! I'm crocheting with it, which requires a smaller sized hook than what I regularly work with, but I love the look of the tiny stitches!

During the last few days of the Olympics, I've decided that getting out one of my hibernating knitting projects, and I've nearly finished the back of a knitted vest! This is the one I've been working on for a number of years, and I've had issues finishing for at least 3 Christmases. It is meant to be a gift to my oldest brother. I'm hoping that this renewed energy will inspire me to actually get it done this year.

I also have a variety of smaller projects- simple scarves, headbands, flowers, and the like- floating around my room, in different stages of progress. I only just realized that my first craft show is the weekend after Labor Day, and I haven't made any of my regular wares. So in between bigger projects, I've started some flowered hair-ties and have made myself the goal of a dozen, all in different colors.

I have been doing some actual book reading, usually a chapter or 2 before bed. A few weeks ago while blog hopping through Ginny's link-up, I noticed someone was reading Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West. My dad's been trying to get me to read more religious stuff, especially stuff written by JPII. While this is not really written by JPII, it is simplifying and expanding upon his work. So far, its been really interesting, and definitely eye-opening.

Other then that, my progress is mostly involving cleaning my room up. I have to make myself clean it every few months, or else it'll get out of hand. I'm hoping that by the end of the year, my mess will be more under control.

I'm linking up with Tami and Ginny today-- be sure to pop over there and check some other things out!

Holiday Stashdown: Week 6

Reflection is always good. Marie's Holiday Stashdown prompt this week has us reflecting. Celebrating success, re-examining our goals, and setting new ones.

Our challenge has been going for six weeks.  Let’s celebrate our successes so far.  For each of us, success may be measured differently: stash organized, list made, awareness of our potential recipients, finished projects, etc.  What have you done so far for the Holiday Stashdown Challenge?  If you’re not feeling successful, what’s preventing you from getting started on reaching your goals?  Or, are your goals unrealistic?

My success has been in finishing (or nearly finishing) 2 of the bigger projects that were getting in the way of smaller projects.

My 8 skein ripple afghan wedding gift is nearly complete, and will be out of my room as of June 30th. Over the weekend, I had 3 nights in a row of nearly uninterrupted crocheting, and I can see the end in sight. There are 2 sections left to be finished, 5 rows long, with 2 transition rows in between. This is how it looked Saturday evening:

My 7 skein 12" block afghan is nearly complete. I have to weave in all my ends, and check all the blocks once more, then put them all together. I don't know if what is left of my 7th skein will be enough  to join all 20 of my squares, but I know where to find a 40 or 50% off coupon to get a spare skein if I run out. And as this is my first blanket made of squares, I want to do it properly.

As I finish those 2 projects, smaller projects are leaping into my lap. I have a huge grocery sack (one of those awesome reusable ones) full of Lion Brand Homespun yarn that is all destined to become infinity scarves for the fall craft shows. I also plan on a few pairs of fingerless gloves, because they are quick, and maybe a knitted scarf or 2. I'll definitely stay out of large project territory for at least a few weeks. Especially since I still have some hibernating projects that need to be finished so they can leave my room.

OMG, I ramble. A lot.

The point, I need to get to the point. Yes, I am feeling successful, although I have purchased yarn that I never originally intended on purchasing at the beginning of the year.

FO Friday: A Set!

I'm joining up with Tami's Finished Object Friday today, and am already fulfilling my weekly goal (from yesterday's post)  of a finished project a week.

I bought 4 skeins of Lion Brand Tweed Stripes back around November/December last year, as it reminded me of James C. Brett Marble Chunky (purchased while abroad last May). I hadn't decided what to make with it, as I had 2 skeins of 2 different colorways: Orchid and Mixed Berries.

This hat and fingerless glove "set" is with the purple colorway, Orchid. I used a basic hat pattern, and used Motif 40 from Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs to decorate it. The gloves are just 20 stitches in the round, decorated with a simple chain flower. All the flowers are made with Vanna's Choice Wild Berry. I have yet to decide if I will sell them as a set, or just sell the hat, and save the gloves for a gift (as part of the Holiday Stashdown).

My assessment of Tweed Stripes: it feels almost as nice as the Marble Chunky, but the skeins are not as generous, and I don't have access to many colors at my local craft stores. I also believe that I can get more yarn for my money, even if I do have to order Marble Chunky online-- even with shipping. However, convenience is often an expense that is worth it. (OMG, my econ class is getting to me...)

FO Friday 4

Only 2 days until Christmas! Fortunately, all my presents for Christmas days have been finished.

Yesterday, I finished the second mitt in a pair of fingerless for my mom out of some James Brett Marble Chunky-- I absolutely love this yarn, and I think I've found a semi-equivalent in Lion Brand Tweed Stripes. I haven't started a project with it yet, but after the rush of the season is over, I'm going to try it out.
This is a crappy photo of the first one:


I've also finished a few more infinity scarves, but unfortunately, no new pictures because I was rushed and had to get them to their recipients.

Here is another wreath (this is the WIP photo, but it is done!)


For more FO Friday, visit Tami's Amis