As I didn’t post all that much last month in the end, I thought I’d do a round up of last year’s finished projects now, before it gets too out of date. Some of these I’ve mentioned before, but I wanted to get some better pictures of one or two anyway. So, in order of finishing:
Tag: clapotis
Clap!
As I mentioned the other day, I’ve finished my Clapotis [Ravlink] at long long last – it’s only taken me nearly three years! Although to be fair, for most of that it was languishing in a bag with only the first section knitted.
So here are some photos of the finished object, anyway. I haven’t blocked it, as I like how it’s turned out as it is. It’s too warm to wear it at the moment, but as soon as the weather cools down, it’ll be in active service! Should make a change from wearing purple.
And talking of purple(-ish), I’ve been spinning away for the Tour de Fleece. More pictures from that tomorrow, I expect.
Z is for Zips
Even though I haven’t started sewing up the Menace jumper [Ravlink] yet, I’ve been thinking about the other Unfinished Object that’s been sitting around for ages and ages, and that’s my Chunky Zipped Jacket [Ravlink] which is knit from Sirdar Bigga yarn. The main thing that’s keeping me from finishing this is the zip, although I’m also not quite sure whether to sew the seams with the Bigga yarn (which is “Super Bulky” weight), or with a thinner yarn of the same colour. I do have a thinner yarn, and that would make the seams less bulky, I think. But would it show up or be less stable, too? I don’t know! Help! I also suspect that this might not be the best project to try attaching a zip to, when it’s the first time I’ve ever done that. Again, the bulkiness is an issue. What do I sew the zip on with? Thread or yarn? This stuff is hard. Time to get advice from wiser heads, I think. I’ll cart it along to KnitJam next week.
Otherwise, today has been more of a knitting day than a tidying up one, though I have got some of that done. But good news! I’ve finished my Clapotis [Ravlink] at long last. I still have to weave in the ends, and block it (probably… I might leave it, I haven’t decided yet) but otherwise I’m done. Woohoo! Pictures will be coming soon.
Y is for Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn!
The hot weather is continuing, and now it’s got to the point where it’s really too hot to sleep at night. Not so much fun. Especially with a cat who’s determined to plaster himself against you! Ugh. I didn’t even go out today, but stayed inside knitting (my Clapotis is very very nearly done, yay!) and doing housework, all while listening to podcasts.
I was really quite productive though, which is good. I’m tired now, yes, but the house is clean, and I’ve managed to file away (or recycle) a whole load of paperwork that had been lurking. I can even use the dining room table again – it had been covered in said piles of paperwork. I have every intention of covering it up again, as I want to finally sew up my Menace jumper. Now that I’ve got started with the filing, I’m planning to carry on tomorrow. Because yes, there is more. I need to go through my files, too, and shred all the older stuff. I should ask Mum to bring her shredder up when she comes over to help me consign stuff to charity donations. My filing cupboard definitely needs some paring down. Hah, so much for spending more time on the beach – I’m thinking up excuses to stay in out of the heat. I get a lovely breeze blowing through my flat most days. But I really must get out as well. Maybe later in the week. Too tired to think about it now. Zzzzzzzzz.
V is for Volunteering
I’ll be starting some voluntary work at a local library soon, helping people on the computers and internet. I’ve got to go in for a sort of induction day and an interview, but as I understand it, they’re trialling a tutorial programme to help people who aren’t used to computers, and my role would be to support them using that, and then provide refresher info and help afterwards. Sounds like fun! (No, I’m not being sarcastic, it does.) I’m looking forward to it, and it’ll be good to have something else regular in my schedule.
This evening I’ve been working on my Clapotis [Ravlink] while watching the Glastonbury coverage, and I’ve now tinked back so that I have one repeat of the straight section less, and therefore hopefully enough yarn left now to finish the project. I’d better have, because I’ve started on the decrease section again! Actually, I haven’t got very far into that… maybe I should pop a lifeline in just in case? Better safe than sorry.
T is for Tan (or lack thereof)
I spent most of today on the beach, which was marvellous – the weather is warm and sunny, but with enough of a breeze to keep it comfortable. I sat and knitted, listened to music for some of the time, the sounds of the seaside for the rest of it, and generally enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. I went and got one of those folding chairs that come in the carry bags, but I actually only ended up using it (still in the bag!) as a lower back rest.
It was really nice being down there. I really must go more often while the weather is good. I don’t have a garden, but with the beach only 5-10 mins away… well. Silly not to go.
I was working on my Clapotis [Ravlink] and got very near to the end… when I realised that I wasn’t going to have enough yarn after all. Argh! So I’ve ripped back again and I’ll start the decrease rows one repeat earlier. That is, I’ll have one repeat less of the “straight” section. It’ll still be a good length. I should still have it finished this week, too, since the decrease section obviously gets faster as you go.
One thing that had completely passed me by until I got into town and heard all the people in the pubs was that it was the England v (er, someone) World Cup match. We won, didn’t get sent home, and there was much rejoicing. Including a group of blokes parading along the seafront singing the national anthem and then other assorted songs (Mysterious Girl? What?).
Oh, and although I was in the sun all day long, I’m still not tanned at all. Or not enough to notice. Being v pale, I slapped on the Factor 25 – I forgot once last year and got really bad sunburn, so I’m not going there again. Still, if I keep going out to the beach, and the weather obliges, I expect I’ll gain some colour before the end of summer. Even if it will only be noticeable by comparison with my watch mark!
P is for Projects
I had a sudden bout of startitis today (the urge to cast on new knitting projects) but I’ve managed to restrain myself! Why did I do that? Well, for the last… oh, good while, I’ve been resolved to finish the projects I currently have on the needles before I start anything new. I’ve got a lot of things that have been meandering along for a long time – I have started and completed other projects in the mean time, but I haven’t finished these others. So I’m making an effort to do that now.
The thing that’s helped me the most with doing that is that I decided to pick a “WIP of the Week” every Friday, and concentrate on that project for the next seven days. I’m not forbidding myself from knitting on my other WIPs if I feel like it, but I’ll be focussing on the one that I’ve picked and hopefully be doing the most work on that. I haven’t kept that up completely all the time, but it’s certainly helped before so I’m going to try it again.
When I first started it, it worked like a dream – I finished my first three picks very quickly that way. At the moment, I have two – the Menace jumper, which is a UFO (I count something as a UFO rather than a WIP if it’s been hibernating and not worked on for ages) and now only needs seaming, and the Clapotis scarf which is somewhat more portable. By the end of this week, I intend to have finished the straight portion of the scarf, and made a start on the jumper seaming. Although if I haven’t managed that, it doesn’t matter – I’m not aiming to finish the projects within each week, just to get as much work done on them as possible.
So, the current WIP(s) of the Week will be at the top of the “Currently” section of my sidebar. Below them are my Ravelry-powered progress bars for my In Progress and Hibernating projects. The hibernating ones are greyed out and italicised (and if you want to know how I got it to do that, drop me a line – it involved some code wrangling that I’d be happy to share with anyone interested). The links go to the Ravelry project pages, so I’m afraid if you’re not a member you won’t be able to get in unless I remember to set them as ‘open’. Or at least I think that’s how it works. Although if you’re not a member and are a knitting/crochet/spinning fan, I’d definitely recommend you go and sign up – it’s a fabulous site :-)
Anyway, I thought I’d do a round-up (with pictures) of my current lot of WIPs and UFOs. And project details for those I haven’t mentioned on here before.
K is for Knitting in Public
So, today was World Wide Knit in Public Day (or at least, the start of WWKIP week) for 2010. We had a little meet up and knit in Princes Park in Eastbourne to mark the event – there were just four of us there in the end, but we had a good time. Or I did, anyway. I hope everyone else did!
We were there from 11am to 3pm, and as well as getting on with knitting and crochet of our own, the heel section of BigSock was cast on! A mere 500 stitches at its narrowest point, should be a doddle. Hah!
Of course, I didn’t get any of my jumper done… and what I did get knitted of my clapotis is probably going to have to be ripped back because I seem to have gained (or lost) a stitch somewhere! I’m out one, anyway. Oh well.
A is for Ambition
I’ve decided that a good way to keep myself going with the daily posting is to do the meme / exercise that I’ve seen on some other blogs, and do a letter of the alphabet each day. Obviously that leaves four days, so I’ll do a week of alphabet then a day of either something random, or doubling up on a letter. I’ll decide that part when I get there!
So, A is for “Ambition”. Which can be broken down into both short and long term goals:
- Maintaining the daily blogging through this month, and also doing IComLeavWe at the end of the month.
- Possibly do 750words.com (depending on time).
- Sort out the photo album on this thing!
- New site design (also for here).
- Finish at least one knitting project – try sewing up the Menace jumper, for example. And keep working on the Clapotis.
- Make some blog posts updating my knitting progress – what I’ve been doing over the last few months as well as what I’m doing now, since I haven’t posted for so long.
- Write up the patterns I’ve designed. Finally!
“Ambition” also works pretty well for the NaBloPoMo prompt for today – I may or may not do these every day, it depends what appeals to me. But the one for today is:
When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a teacher. Boring, I know! Specifically, I think I wanted to be an English teacher, because I loved reading and writing. On slightly more mature reflection, I decided that the idea of dealing with a classroom full of teenagers was an appalling one, so I changed my mind to librarian. Needless to say, I’m in neither profession now, although I have done some one-to-one music tuition and enjoyed that.
And I’m back again
Oh dear, I haven’t posted for far too long! A billionty years!! Or to be more precise, just over five months. Whoops! I don’t know where the time’s gone to. I’ve obviously been busy doing… stuff. Yeah, that’ll be it.
One of the things I have been doing is knitting. I’ve actually got a bit of decision-itis at the moment. An inflammation of the decisions, oh noes! I’ve been feeling impatient to finish things, but having trouble choosing which one to pick up. For now, I’m mostly knitting on my Clapotis [Ravlink] and planning to sew up my Menace jumper… but not actually doing it.
Anyway, I’m going to try to blog more often, and to that end I’m going to try NaBloPoMo for June. I think I actually have some possibility of finishing it, because I have actually been writing regularly on 750words.com, and if I can manage that for a long streak, then I can do a daily blog post. My problem might actually be not going on for too long, in fact. Now, I shall go to bed so that I can get started properly tomorrow.
To Frog or Not To Frog?
… That is the question. The other question is, hey where did the last week disappear to? Bzuh?? I know I was quite busy, but I didn’t realise it had been that many days since I posted last. Whoops! My Secret Pal package did arrive on Monday as expected, and yay, it’s awesome! But I’ll babble about that more in a separate post, because I haven’t uploaded the photos yet.
What I am going to babble about now is my frogging dilemma. 
See, I’m about 10-15% into my Forest Canopy Shawl, and it’s very pretty and all. But I’m not quite sure that Eva is the best yarn to use for it. It’s gorgeous and shiny, but it hasn’t got as much elasticity as an all-wool yarn, which means that the sl1 k2tog psso decreases look a little baggy. I’ve hibernated it anyway until I’m done with my Christmas knits, so I was thinking that maybe I should rip it. Because it also occurred to me that Eva would make the most beautiful Clapotis…
I know, I know: everyone and their dog / cat has already made a Clapotis, and I’m the last person in the world to jump on this particular bandwagon. You know, I wasn’t even particularly enamoured of the pattern until I started thinking how well Eva would suit it. And suddenly, it clicked for me. Well, I’m late to everything else, why not this too? It really would show off the yarn soooo well. 
As for the Forest Canopy? Well, I have a skein of PY Emily in some lovely shades of green that strikes me as rather… forest-y. Is that too predictable? I think it’ll look good, though, and I like green. So there ;-) Plus, I’m pretty sure that it’ll knit up better Emily. My other choice would be YY Merino, or possibly Sock, but I don’t have a colour in either of those that I want to use for the shawl, unless I used the YY August club yarn. But I have that earmarked for a particular sock pattern, so I don’t think I will.
I have another frogging dilemma as well, although this one is less of a real dilemma. A couple of years ago, I started knitting a zip jacket that was actually a man’s pattern by Debbie Bliss featured in Simply Knitting mag. Well, I say I started knitting it. I went out and bought the yarn (a substitute, but pretty well identical: Sirdar Denim Sport Aran instead of Debbie Bliss Denim Aran), and cast on. Aaaaaand that’s as far as I ever got! I spose I was distracted by other things (this was right before Dad’s accident) and somehow I never picked it up again. And then, in the most recent issue of Knitty, I saw Mr Greenjeans. Ooooooo, I thought. I like that! My first idea was that I could maybe use some Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Aran that I have lurking in my stash for it – it’s a lovely dark green colour, and I’ve been wanting to find something to use it for for ages. But when I double-checked, I don’t have enough of it. D’oh!! (One of these days, I might pick up some complementary yarn and make a Tubey with it. That would be nice.) So I kind of figured I’d have to give up on the idea of that cardigan for a while, until it suddenly struck me that I have that Denim Sport Aran sitting around not being knitted. Was I really ever going to knit the zip jacket? Probably not. So I think I’m going to use that yarn for the Mr Greenjeans instead. The only thing that’s vaguely bothering me is that I’m not 100% sure the yarn is actually very me. Will I wear a blue denim-effect cardi? Oh, I spose I will. I could think of it as work clothing! At-the-computer attire. After all, it won’t show the cat hair as badly as all my black clothes do. *g*
I spose that’s decision made, then. Zip jacket thing: Frog, and re-purpose the yarn as a Mr Greenjeans. Forest Canopy: Probably frog, re-purpose the yarn as a Clapotis, then re-start with the green PY Emily. Hoorah! (This isn’t helping my startitis any, you know….)