More Working on All the Things. As One Does.

It's been a fairly calm week here at chez woolly.  We're all recovering nicely from our bout with The Plague(tm).  I still get tired really easily (and can't tell if the brain fog is due to Covid or from being a Woman of a Certain Age), but overall I am feeling loads better.

I am continuing to make steady progress across several projects, and that feels great.  I haven't worked as much on the blanket as I thought I would, but enh, it's whatever.  It'll be done when it is done - I only have 4.5 border rounds to go so once the mood strikes it won't take long.

I have, however, made lots of progress on the Glittering-Whatsit shawl that I abandoned last year.  I mathed it out that if I can knock out 8 repeats a week, I'll have it done by the end of April.  So far so good!

The sock continues to see some action, albeit not quite as much as I'd hoped.  Patterned socks (even patterns as simple as a 2x2 Broken Rib) always take me longer, and I always underestimate it.

This picture was taken on Saturday on my way to meet up with Rhiannon for Modern Daily Knitting's Nash Yarn Fest, where I suffered from utter and absolute camnesia.  Truly a blogger's fail, I tell you.  But I did run into some lovely friends who live in the internet, which was wonderful, and Rhi and I had a great time.  The crowds were a little overwhelming (and the weather a little exciting), but all in all I'm very glad we went and excited that they've already announced that they plan to do it again next year.

In other making news, I decided to cast on the Spring pattern of the Stardew Valley socks that Rhi got me for Christmas year before last.  I thought the equinox was a perfect time to start it, and even queued up one of the Spring songs from the OST to listen to while I worked on it.  A++ nerdery, would go again.  I would show you the picture I took with my laptop open to the Stardew Valley soundtrack on Spotify, but after I took the picture I realized that my laptop screen is filthy, and that will not be going on the internet.

My current plan is to start the summer pair on the Solstice and so on and so forth.  I may only knit one of each pair and hang them on my wall in sock blockers as art - I haven't fully decided yet.  More on that as it develops!

Apparently March is Also for Finishing

The last two weeks passed by in a fugue of coughing, going through mountains of tissues, and generally feeling as though all thoughts were being processed through a vat of cold oatmeal.  After five years of antisocial and hermit-like behavior, I finally got got and contracted baby's first Covid.

We had friends over for our semi-regular D&D session Friday before last, and then woke up Saturday morning coughing.  I think the final body count was seven friends and family taken out by this thing.  0/10 stars, do not recommend.

While I did still kind of work last week, I also had tons of enforced couch time, so I was shockingly productive - and not just because this is two weeks since my last update ... although I imagine that isn't hurting any either.

I missed finishing the Wasilla Poncho in February by just a few days, but done is done, and I'm playing by no one's rules but my own.  I ran out of yarn at a weird place in the pattern and briefly considered finding another skein of the Lion Brand Mandala so I could end at a better spot.  I really didn't want to do that though because using every bit of the yarn was entirely the point of choosing a top down project like this in the first place.  I set it aside and noodled on it a bit until I was hit by a brain wave.  I had a sudden vision of a yarn that I bought long enough ago that the store it came from has been closed more than 15 years.  In my mind's eye the color and texture would be perfect, AND (get this) I knew exactly where it was.

I'm pretty pleased with myself, truth being told.  My mind's eye knows what's up.

Heady with that success (and the over-abundance of phlegm I'd recently taken on board), I turned my attention to the Beach Walk blanket.  I finished up the remaining granny squares, got them joined, and have 2 out of 8 border rounds completed.   We're still on track to have it finished by the end of the month if I can stay consistent with it. I'll try to share an updated picture next week.

And if that wasn't enough, genties and ladlemen, let me please introduce you to Delores de Colores.  She is perfect and I love her.  For all that it took me ten months start to finish, this was a remarkably fast knit.  I probably only worked on it a handful of days all in and I couldn't be happier with the results.  Plus I used some old-growth stash up, so wins all around.

Did I need a stuffed rainbow chicken?  Don't be ridiculous, of course I did.

In addition to all of the above, I moved my Riptide vest along and got both the left and right front shoulders done and the neck shaping to the point where I've joined the two together into one front piece.   It's in an unwieldy and un-photographical state at the moment, but progress is assuredly happening.

And finally, you had to know that there would be a new sock. 

Next week's plans include more progress on all the things. I'm feeling highly motivated to keep knocking down the old WIP list.  I even pulled out my 2024 Hiberknitalong Shawl to see if I could figure out where I was with it.

The border is not nearly as annoying to knit as I remember.

More specifically, I plan to:

• add two more border rounds to the blanket
• add four more repeats to the shawl border
• turn the heel on the sock (bonus points if I can finish it)
• get Riptide to the point where I can join in the round

On the one hand, that feels ambitious.  On the other hand, that feels ambitious and I like it.

Heeding The List

I've started doing this wild thing where I write down what I'd like to get done in the month, and then I give it a think and decide how much that means I should do each week, and then I write THAT down, and fellas, I think I've revolutionized this whole productivity thing.

This past week The List told me that I needed to get 13 squares for Beach Walk done in Week 3 of February, and another 13 in Week 4 to get my total of 52 squares by month's end.  I'm well on track, having finished last week's allotment and 5 more for this week's.  No pictures this week; I'll show you again when something interesting is going on.

The List also advised that if I'd like to finish the crochet poncho by end of February, I should add one of the skeins of Mandala to it last week (check) and one this week (on track).  I'll give it some more love over the next couple of evenings and hopefully pull out one more February is for Finishing victory.  Worst case it's done the first week of March, and that's okay too.

These socks were supposed to be finished by last Sunday, but sometimes The List is a jerk and has unreasonable expectations. They're finished now though, so all is as it should be.  This is another 75/25 commercial workhorse yarn that I picked up from Wool Warehouse a few years ago, because no yarn should travel alone, and that goes double for yarn coming across an ocean.  They were just the shot of Valentine's cheer my February needed.  

Pattern is my standard vanilla with a Fish Lips Kiss Heel, this time with 68 stitches, and a 1x1 rib for the cuff.  I ended the toe with 24 stitches on the needles instead of 16 before grafting, to make a wider toe box.  Ever in search of the elusive perfect fit and all that.

also in search of that ever elusive spring - note the photobombing daffodils

In addition to all this yarnish industry, I've also done a spot of stitching, including February Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks and Big Hearted Tiny Town by Heart in Hand designs. (Links go to 123Stitch to show the designs - my cross stitch photography could use some improvement.) I won't finish either this month, but that's okay.  I've decided, for now anyway, to remain unbothered by my cross stitch WIPs and to embrace the idea of seasonal stitching.  I'll put them away, and odds are good there will be another February next year for me to work on them.

Plans for the rest of the week include finishing up the poncho and my remaining Beach Walk squares, and then on Saturday I may indulge in a spot of starting things.  On the cross-stitching front, there's a March Cottage and Blooming Tiny Town to consider, or perhaps a Hobbit House (or perhaps all three). 

I'll also continue to work on Riptide, start some new socks and try to figure out where I left off on my poor spatchcocked Emotional Support Chicken.

Oh!  And I'll finalize The List for March and see if I can't keep this train on the tracks for another month. 

It does not escape my notice that I'd get more done faster if I were to focus my efforts the tiniest bit, but it's spring, baby, and I cannot be contained.

She Was Like a Bearded Rainbow

It's been another eventful week over here at chez woolly, full of wild carryings on.  We had friends over for a lovely and soul satisfying dinner on Friday, where we did some belated New Year tarot readings and celebrated the birthday of the trees. There may have been a dramatic reading of The Lorax after dinner and wine but all present were sworn to silence.

photo credit to CyberMathWitch

On the finishing front (it being February after all), I have some very exciting news to report.

I had originally thought that I would want to add a black border around the outside of this, but once I got here I changed my mind.  A bit like gilding the lily, I thought.  We'll gloss over the fact that I bought a 400 yard skein of Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply to add a border I ultimately decided against, all in the name of using my stash.  Ya win some, ya lose some. 

In any case, I am beyond delighted with how it turned out.  I feel quite clever for successfully applying a 3rd-grader understanding of geometric shapes and adapting a pattern on the fly, allowing me to use up every drop of my 2023 Advent set from The Fiber Seed.

That's one project ticked off of the list, so I've turned my attention to the Wasilla Poncho. I'd like to finish it in February as well, so I've set myself a goal of adding one skein of the LB Mandala this week, and one skein next week.  I'm also continuing to plug away on Riptide, and of course the ubiquitous purse sock.  No pictures of any of them this time - they all look just like they did last week, only more so.

And finally, in the spirit of moving my Beach Walk Blanket towards completion, I'm working on the squares for the outer border.  I'm well on track to finish the squares in February so I can attach them and do the final few rounds in March.

there is no good way to show off 32 granny squares

That's all the news that's fit to print.  Incremental progress on a number of things, as is the way of things around here. 

But that rainbow wrap tho!  

🌈🌈🌈

Mid-February Check-in (I Was Shocked Too)

Here it is midway through the month and I haven't actually finished anything. 

Well, that's not entirely true - I finished the first of my February socks, which by custom here at chez woolly totally counts, since March is for Making Mates. I'm cavalierly flouting that custom and continuing to work on them, since they are my back-pack knitting. 

I spent part of yesterday when I was supposed to be working thinking about crafting goals and plans and current WIPs, and the like. I have a personal notebook in my One Note on my work computer so I can look busy while I'm actually thinking about granny squares. I'm back in the office three days a week, and let me tell you it's cramping my style. Being in the office is also related to why the socks aren't getting sidelined, as I've conditioned my colleagues over the years to think it's normal to see me knitting during meetings. 

I intended to work on cross stitch when I got home last night until dinner, and then knit after -- and instead I played Stardew Valley, so I think I might have sussed out part of why I'm not finishing things as quickly as I might like (my farm is kicking ass though, so there's that). 

I did pull out my Riptide vest after we ate, so partial credit will be awarded. 

It's not that much farther along than the last time you saw it, but slow progress is still progress, and all that.  Riptide is knit top down, starting with the back. After you've knit yay-so-far you pick up stitches at the shoulders and knit the front until it's time to join the whole thing in the round. I’m getting close to yay-so-far on the back, but I’m not quite there yet. I'm planning to finish it in March, so I'm nicely on track. It does occur to me that I'll be finishing it more or less in time for it to be out of season, but it'll be waiting for me in the fall, so I'm not bothered. Global climate change notwithstanding, we do get seasons more or less every year. 

During all of that planning and thinking yesterday I got a little crisper on what I'd like to finish this month, although I'm not sure I factored today's date into all of that planning, so we'll see how we get on. 

I'm planning to finish: 

• it only gets brighter from here (the rainbow wrap) 
• poncho of invisibility (Wasilla poncho) 
• the socks 

I also thought about what cross stitch I want to focus on in February and it occurs to me, perhaps belatedly, that while all of my stitching goals and all of my knitting goals could be accomplished separately … they are likely more than one month's worth of goals when taken together. 

Or as Suzy Izzard would say, "you're British kid, scale it back a bit." 

That being said, I'm holding the cross stitch goals pretty loosely. "Work on February Cottage" is not perhaps a SMART goal as such, but it is nice and easy to cross off, no matter how much actually gets done. 

needless to say, I did not iron

We Listen and We Don’t Judge: February is for Finishing 2025 Style

Well, here we are again on the cusp of February and here I am to confess my sins.  And by “sins,” please understand that I mean “a silly number of scrap blankets.”

 

My WIP list is neither as long as most nor as short as some (what the heck was up with that one year I only had 4 WIPs?  Who was she?)   I’m rocking a total of fourteen WIPs, eight of which are in-progress blankets.  Of those eight, a plump and meaty six are scrap yarn blankets with no clear finish date in mind.

 

With that in mind, I’m going to list my WIPs a little differently this year.  I’m going to list the “regular” projects first, and the six scrap blankets separately at the end.  They are long-term projects that I’ll add to as the spirit moves and the scrap yarns pile up.  They aren’t focus projects, but I do want them to make steady progress every year.  They’ll be done when they’re done, is what I’m saying.

 

Enough prologue.  Here are the lists, oldest to newest, as is tradition.   And let it be noted that my oldest not-blanket WIP is just over a year old.  I don’t know what that’s meant to prove, but there it is.

Note that the links go to my Ravelry notebook.

 

1. Glittering Snowscape Shawl by Stephen West, using Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply.  Started January 1, 2024.  I loved every bit of knitting this shawl right up until I hit the knitted-on border.  I don’t mind that as a construction technique generally speaking, but this particular application was a bit fiddly, if we’re being honest.  I also don’t mind weaving in ends, but a woman has her limits.   The border involves knitting in short bursts of one of the previously used shawl colors every repeat.  The effect is lovely, but I was not having it last spring.  The plan for this one is to pull it out and get myself reoriented.  I’m going to try another repeat or two and see if I can get into any kind of rhythm. Failing that, I’m ripping what I have done of the border out and redoing it all in one color. 

 

Pictured here with appropriate fortification.

2. it only gets brighter from here (half-granny triangle shawl, modified), using the 2023 Advent from The Fiber Seed.  Started January 21, 2024.  This one’s fun.  The main things that derailed me were a) imaginary internet points, and b) figuring out the best way to use up all of the yarn.   I am working with a full 24 mini skein set in a rainbow gradient, and as the triangle got bigger, each mini went less and less far.  Which totally makes sense since I was increasing every row to maintain the triangle shape.   I decided to play around with the design, and I’m crocheting two right triangles that I plan to attach to each other to make a parallelogram.  The first triangle uses minis 1-12, and the second starts with 24 and goes through 13.  I have some black Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply that I can use as an outer border and if it works, it will be a big rainbowy wrap that will be awesome and funky.  If it doesn’t work, I’m going to be really annoyed.  (It should work.  Why wouldn’t it work?)  Anyway, I’m nearly there, just wrapping up adding in the last mini to the second triangle.  Wish me luck.

As a side note, I shared this plan with my middlest child - who seemed very concerned that I might wear it in public. 

I shared this plan with my middlest child, who seemed very concerned that I might wear it in public. 

3. always our self we find in the sea, using assorted called for acrylics (mostly Stylecraft Special DK).  Started April 13, 2024.  While this is another blanket, it’s neither technically a scrap blanket, nor is it meant to be a long-term project.  Well, a long-ER term in any case, because I always intended to take a year to make it.  This is the Beach Walk blanket by Marion Mitchell.  I’ve done several of her blankets in the past, most recently the Spice Gem blanket.  This one’s a bit bigger than the others, and I gave myself a long runway to get it done.  I’m on track for a finish by March 31, and after that I’m likely to start the Winter Walk blanket.

 4. guess what? Using Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino, KP Wool of the Andes Tonal (that is at least 100 years old), and various and sundry scraps when I get there.  This, my friends, is going to be an emotional support chicken, if I can get on with finishing it.  We are firmly in the spatchcock phase of chicken construction.  She’s going to be glorious when she’s done. 

5. test (this poor blanket doesn’t even have a proper project name), using Stylecraft Special Aran and Loops & Threads Impeccable. Started June 1, 2024. This is (was) a test for one of Mio’s granny square blankets.  I got completely side-tracked, missed the deadline, and just have a pile of squares.  I need to get this back on track and finished up, so I have some another not-Christmas winter blanket to throw on the couch.  

6. a poncho of invisibility is not quite as good as a cloak of invisibility (but they’re cheaper and easier to crochet), using Lion Brand Mandala yarn.  Started October 24, 2024.  This is actually the Wasilla Poncho by Jennifer Renaud.  My penchant for clever project names might be finally getting away from me.  This just needs a little dedicated attention and it’ll be sorted out.  I’ve added one out of three cakes to it – when I’m out of yarn, I’m done.

 

7. sweet you rock and sweet you roll (vanilla socks), using Truly Wool Rich 4 Ply Sock Yarn. Started January 24, 2025.  These are bog standard vanilla socks in a 75/25 commercial sock yarn.  These are background project, pull out during a meeting, keep in the purse socks.  As one does.  

This yarn is absolutely giving Sweet Tart packaging circa 1983.

8. she's been living on the highest shelf, using Knit Picks Swish DK. Started January 25, 2025.  I’m back on my bullshit and trying to knit myself garments that I will actually wear.  Riptide is a cute sweater vest situation with a simple lace panel down the front and back.  Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy (she says, tempting the knitting goddess to smite her for hubris.)  I added this pattern to my 2024 unofficial Make 9 list… I want partial credit for starting it at all, even if I am a year late.

 

Okay, that’s it for the “normal” projects, and honestly having written it out this way I feel a lot better. Only two of these are more than a year old (and barely, at that).  If you squint, I’m not doing too badly.  Also, if you ever need a rationalization for something, I’m your girl.

 

On to The Scrap Blankets

 

Look.  I can explain.

 

No.   It is too much.  I will sum up.

 

I’ve got six different scrap blankets on the go, and they are each serving a different purpose.  There’s one for commercial sock yarn, one for brights, one for neutrals, one for muted, moody colors, one for all that leftover Christmas sock yarn, and one for little bits and bobs of Stylecraft Special DK. 

 

If you think about it, I’m basically being responsible by using up my scraps.  This is practically an exercise in virtue.  All I’m saying is that there’s a very clear and logical explanation for how we got here, and this is all very sensible, if you think about it.

 

Anyway.

 

9. all used up, using various commercial sock yarn scraps.  Started March 26, 2023.   I’m a pretty prolific sock knitter (I mean, I’m no Crazy Sock Lady, but I do alright).  My socks tend to take about 70 grams or so, give or take, which often leaves me with an awkward bit left over.  This blanket is designed to take care of that problem – I’m holding the yarn double and crocheting a simple 5 round granny square.  Each square takes about 10 grams of yarn, and I’m getting a cool marled affect from the doubled yarn.   Once I finish the squares, I can set my Ravelry stash page to “all used up” which is just the little serotonin boost that one needs in trying times.   I plan to lay the squares out in a pleasing order that distributes the colors across and join using a JAYG method, so I can’t start joining until I’m done making the squares.  I need to stop, count my squares, and do some math to decide what the target is.  In the meantime, I’m just adding new squares whenever I finish a pair of socks in Opal, Regia, Online, Lion Brand, etc. yarn.

This is the same photo I used last year. I've added a ton more squares, but don't have a picture.

10. no YOU started a new scrap blanket, using various merino/nylon sock yarn scraps and minis.  (You can tell by the project name that I was on to my own shenanigans at this point.)  This is the Sweet Shop Blanket by Laura Penrose, started September 11, 2023.  I really dig quilterly knit and crocheted blanket patterns.  This one uses a simple half-square triangle in fingering weight yarn held double.  I’m prioritizing muted and moody colors for this one.

 

11. nobody can resist a jelly baby, using various merino/nylon sock yarn scraps and minis held double.  This is the Jelly Roll Blanket by Kay Jones, started November 18, 2023. Here’s where the neons and the brights come out to play.   We love a modular blanket in this house, and this one is no exception.

Don't let the winter lighting fool you - this really is a bright and cheerful blanket.

12. for its own joy, using Stylecraft Special DK, started January 1, 2024.  African Flowers blanket, by Stouto Creative Crochet.  If we’re being honest with ourselves, here just amongst us friends, I’m not sure I’m really making this blanket.  I did one square last winter and that’s it.  I found it a bit fiddly and then it didn’t turn out particularly square (the pattern doesn’t build up the corners very well moving from the central circle out to a square shape.)  I could figure it out if I wanted to modify it … but I’m not sure I’m feeling it.   Maybe it’s a pillow?

 

13. oops all neutrals, using various merino/nylon sock yarn scraps and minis held double.  Started January 6, 2024.  The greys, browns, and creams end up here.  I really love how this is working up.  I’m doing 4-round granny squares and JAYG on the last round, so I’m building the blanket as I go.

14. here we come a’wanderin’, using leftovers from the #25boxofYulesocks project, started November 15, 2025..  It’s been a minute since I knit a mitered square scrap yarn blanket.  I finished my last one up in 2020, and have been miter-free since.  I have 24 pairs of Christmas socks in my box of Yule socks, which means I have a silly amount of Christmas sock yarn leftovers.  Enter the sock yarn blanket.  It’s going to look like the North Pole went on a bender and threw holiday cheer up all over my couch when I’m done with this thing.   I do plan to use each color more than once in a bid to actually use these yarns up (my previous iteration had over 200 unique yarns in it… I’m crazy, but I’m not that crazy.)

 

Plans

 

And that’s the story: eight things I’d like to finish in 2025, and six more I just want to work on.  I don’t want to carry any of the not-scrap blankets into 2026, so the primary goal is to finish them. But that said, I’m not above frogging if I can’t get it together in the next 10 months.

 

As for February, I plan to finish the improvised rainbow wrap, the socks, and to make significant progress on Riptide.  Once I finish the socks, I’ll add the leftover yarn to all used up.  I’m also planning to crochet the outer border’s worth of granny squares for the Beach Walk blanket in February, so I can join them in and do the remaining border rounds in March.

Other than that, I’ll pick either the emotional support chicken or the poncho to finish, in order to knock the list down a bit.  

Plus, I’ll be cross-stitching, but maybe we’ll talk about that another time.