Popping in for a Quickie

I thought about skipping blogging this week, because I don't feel like I really have anything to say.  But that way lies madness and accidentally skipping three weeks in a row, followed by forgetting I have a blog at all for months at a time.

So I figured I'd just pop in for a quickie.  (TWSS).

After last weekend's flurry of activity on Hitchhiker, I'm back to working on all the things.  I'm nearly to the half-way point on my Litmus Cowl.

I'm loving how the colors are working up.  I'm hoping that blocking will fluff up the fibers and straighten out the stitches (no I didn't swatch, don't be ridiculous) because the knitting itself is looking a little wonky and anemic.  I live in hope.

On Friday I decided it was time to move the current sock WIP along, so I knit through about half of the foot and nearly finished the toe.

Then Saturday morning I finished it up and and cast on the second.  If I hustle, I may turn the heel tonight.

I've given Exploration Station just a little bit of love - maybe I'll get enough done on it this week that there will be something worth showing.

I'm also still plugging away on my granny square blanket.  I am closing in on having 30% of the squares done.

So there you have it.   Nothing terribly interesting to report - other than the fact that I haven't cast anything new on and am still making progress on my February is for Finishing goals.  I don't know if that's interesting so much as unexpected. 

Last year I hauled off and cast on three new things during February (one of which I finished during February, so there's that at least).  This year any of my mojo that isn't being channeled into my OWL or Mission (that's Exploration Station and the Litmus Cowl for those of you playing along at home) is going into those blankets or the sock.

With a week left in February I feel good about finishing the socks, and expect to have major progress to show on the shawl and cowl.  I should also be well and away closer to assembly on the granny blanket too. 

The socks might be the only other technical finish this month, but I'll be a lot closer on a lot of things, so it's still a victory of sorts.

That Takes the Edge Right Off or FO: mighty in battle

Well, I feel better.

After my bewilderment at my lack of progress on any of my knits on Friday, I decided to buckle down and make something happen this weekend.  My spreadsheet (remember the spreadsheet?) said I was around 70% done as of Friday mid-afternoon.

I knit while playing video games with Carl (he drives, I opine).  I knit while chatting with my friends and listening to music Friday night.  I knit last night curled up in my spot with an afghan, some bourbon, and the Yarn Harlot's back catalog (I'm up to 2008.)  I knit this morning while surfing Ravelry.

I started playing yarn chicken when I finished the 41st tooth.

This is the 6th time I've knit Hitchhiker - which in an of itself is something to stop an marvel over.  With the exception of my vanilla socks, I can't think of another pattern with this level of commitment to it that I've knit this many times.

But anyway, the whole shtick with this pattern is that it has 42 teeth.  That's the joke, the point of the name of the pattern.  It's a whole thing.   Never once, spanning seven years and over two thousand yards of yarn, did I hit 42 teeth.  Not even my 42nd birthday Hitchhiker, knit in the same dang yarn the designer used - that one crapped out at 41.

So, I was determined to get 42 this time, and by the time I hit the last tooth I was sweating. Maths and my spreadsheet indicated that it was going to be close.

One row and the bind off to go...

Fortitude provided by Nabisco(tm)

...and this was all that was left.

stitch-marker provided for scale

I made it by the skin of my (har har) teeth.  This is the most satisfying conclusion possible for a one-skein shawl project.  I used every drop of the yarn, and love the result.

Hooray!

(Now, what should I work on?)

Project Notes

Pattern:  mighty in battle

Yarn: Leading Men Fiber Arts Monologue, in "And Then There's Maude"

Total Yardage: 523 yards

Needles: US 7 (4.5mm) 24" circulars

Started: January 22, 2020

Completed: February 16, 2020

Ravelry Project Page: here

Mods: Added a row of eyelets on the bind-off row for each tooth.  Followed BO instructions, then YO, K2tog across the row, ending with a KFB.

An Absolute Slog of a Week

I don't know what it is about this week, but everything has been an absolute slog.  Right now my job is simultaneously boring and stressful.  The house is a bit of a mess, but I can't be arsed to care.  My knitting just keeps not finishing itself...sigh... it's just all ...meh.

One could make a compelling argument that the flooding (last Thursday), snow (last Friday), weird 60F temps (Sunday), and more flooding (Tues-Thurs) might have something to do with the current mood.   The other day I looked at my co-workers and with a big, dramatic sigh said, "Do you remember the sun?"   They all agreed that they did not.

February is rough, y'all.

Especially a February that doesn't seem to have any finishing in it.  What?  "No finishing?!" I hear you cry.  That's right my friends, I knit and I knit and I finish nothing.  Sysiphos got nothin' on me. 

I mean, except that I'm not knitting up hill. And arguably I like knitting.  And I can do a little crochet to take the edge off.  And as far as I can tell no one is actually coming along in the night and rolling my shawl back down the hill again...

Okay, so maybe I'm being a little dramatic. 

It just seems like nothing is moving.  I expect socks to drip from my needles, like that one fairy tale princess who had jewels falling from her mouth every time she laughed (which, in retrospect, sounds both horrific and economy killing.  But I digress.) I just want my sock to be done, y'all.

And blankets?  Don't talk to me about blankets.  Who makes 4 blankets at the same time?  Who?  Nobody sane that's who.

I just wish I understood why I'm not finishing anything.

It's a mystery.

Wherein our knitter shocks no one and knits all the things

In my usual fashion I'm working on ALL THE THINGS this week, meaning that I'm seeing little to moderate progress on several different projects, rather than any kind of real progress on just one.

actual picture of me

Look, you knew I was like this.  And it's not like I hauled off and cast on a bunch of new stuff like I did last year.   (It's also not like I started the month with only four WIPs like I did last year either, but that's neither here nor there.)

Hitchhiker was the clear winner of my attention and affection this week, going from 22 teeth up to 30.  My spreadsheet (you knew I had a spreadsheet, right?) says I'm 52% done.  If I can average around 17-ish % a week, I'll meet my goal of finishing this in February.

Years of personal experience and a recent deep-dive into the Yarn Harlot's back catalogue are keeping me from declaring this "a piece of cake" or a "done deal".  Nor will I make references to lemons and the squeezing thereof, lest I call down the wrath of the Knitting Goddess.  She has no truck with hubris, and will smite a knitter faster than Icarus can yell, "Hey y'all, watch this!"   But I like my chances.

Also - this yarn is wild, y'all.   It's red in the cake, green knit up, brown outside, and grey in my office.  I mean, I know what you're going to say -- you're going to start in on me about natural versus artificial light and how that impacts photos.  And while you are right, I would like for you to explain to me why the colors are actually different IN PERSON WITH MY VERY OWN EYEBALLS.  Chameleon yarn, yo.

I've also made nice progress on my Study in Peach Mint socks.  (I should have cast them on earlier.  It's my fault, guys.)

Other projects that saw a little action include my Exploration Station, my "art of creating comfort" afghan and...

...check this out.  My Hogwarts Studies Notebook is back in action.  I have vague hopes of finishing this friend in 2020.  I figure my chances are improved if I work on it.  Crazy, no?