2025 in Review: A Finish Parade

I'll be posting my Annual Airing of the WIP™ pile here in a few days, but I thought I might take a moment first to share some of my finishes from 2025.  Maybe that will make us all feel better about the length of the list I'm about to drop on y'all. 

Let's start with some quick numbers.

• I completed 26 projects and used 15,485 yards of yarn.
• Of those 26, 16 were pairs of socks.  We do like a sock around these parts.
• I knit or crocheted 3 shawls and 1 poncho.
• I finished 1 substantial blanket project.
• I knit 3 pairs of fingerless mitts as Christmas gifts.
• I knit 2 stuffies: an Emotional Support Chicken and a gnome.

That feels like a healthy mix of projects (er, if you call 60% socks healthy...and I do).  Notably, there were no finished garments.  I have Riptide nearly done, but I am struggling with maintaining any momentum there. But we'll talk about that when we look at WIPs later.

Want to see some pictures?  Of course you do.

You saw the first whack of socks earlier when I was taking stock of my goal completion back in November, but here's the entirety of my 2025 output in one place:

There's a nice balance of vanilla, textured, and fun cables. Most have a Fish Lips Kiss heel, with the odd Fleegle or two in the mix for variety.  Will I finish more pairs in 2026 than I did in 2025?  Time will tell, but I can share that I'm already done one pair and expect another finish by end of week, so...

The shawl and poncho category is nicely balanced between knit and crochet. There's also good variety in size and weight (and color!)  I definitely didn't get bored making these.  (I lie.  The border on that Stephen West shawl nearly killed me.)

The blanket I finished is another Marion Mitchell - this was one is the Beachwalk Blanket.  I love it.  The colors are gorgeous, and it is a great size.  Those little 1 round grannies were a lot, but worth it, I think.

Some holiday mitts - all DK weight (or, well, the bottom pair is fingering held double, but same difference).

And then finally the stuffies.  I haven't made a ton of these kinds of projects in the past, but I got a big kick out of both of these, so there may be more in my future.

So that's a wrap on what I accomplished last year.  I am really happy with what I got done.

Looking ahead, there will for sure be more socks, likely another shawl or two, and hopefully some sweaters or sweater vests.  And given the number of blankets I'm working on, surely I will finish one of those someday too.

I hope.

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.

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

Get a Grip: 2023 is for Finishing (Not Just February)

Last December, as 2022 closed out and the fresh promise of 2023 lay ahead, I sat down and had a good hard think about my crafting, my WIP situation, what’s been bringing me joy, and what’s been weighing me down.

Good crafting habits that I fought hard to establish over the years have fallen by the wayside, and I seem to have reverted to some older patterns that aren’t great for my overall happiness or crafty-well-being.  (There’s perhaps a larger story to be told here about other aspects of my life, health, habits, and happiness, but that’s an introspection for another day.)

I was starting things that I didn’t really work on and never put into Ravelry, so they were in this weird “is it really a project or not?” limbo.  I was letting WIPs linger long enough that they were beginning to slide into true UFO territory.  I stopped entering yarn into Ravelry as soon as I bought it.  (Don’t get it twisted…I did not stop buying yarn, I just quit adding it to my notebook.) 

My mojo has been intermittent, and I’m feeling weighed down instead of buoyed up by my crafting life.

In short, I need to get a grip.

So here’s what we’re going to do about it.  I’m declaring 2023 The Year of the WIP.  This is a personal challenge, but feel free to play along in whatever manner feels helpful or meaningful to you. 

Here are my rules of engagement:

1. I will finish, frog, or fling everything that was on needles or hooks as of Dec 31, 2022, by December 31, 2023. The only projects coming into 2024 with me will be less than 12 months old.
2. I’ll post a full accounting of what’s in bounds.  This will also serve as my annual “February is for Finishing” post, wherein we all acknowledge that that scrappy granny blanket still hasn’t been touched since 2019.  See above in re: getting a grip.
3. I can cast new things on as I please, this is not strictly speaking a “Project Zero” style challenge.  This is a “clear out what’s weighing me down to make space for the new” kind of situation.
4. I’ll keep both my projects and my stash updated in Ravelry.  I’ve nearly caught my yarn up already, and just need to add my advents and a few other bits and bobs from December.
5. I’m going to be very thoughtful and intentional about any new yarn purchases.  We have yarn at home.

I made a down payment on The Year of the WIP on New Year's Day when I finished up a washcloth I found stuffed in the blue bin in my living room.  This is the bin I shove things in when I am "cleaning" up my crafting before people come over.  

I have no idea when I started it, I know it was sometime last year, but I have no memory of this place.

And as a side note, in case you are curious about the PPN (personal, private number) of WIPs that drove me over the edge… it was 13.  Past me would think that’s hilarious.

The Intersection Between Magic, Politics, and Knitting FO: to catch or ensare by the foot socks

In the center of the Venn Diagram between magic, politics, and knitting lies these socks.

These are White Birch Fiber Arts self-striping sock yarn in the “Study In Peach Mint” colorway. (If you don’t natch right away, try saying it out loud.) I started knitting them in late January when certain political events were playing out in Washington because I’m angry and wanted to do something productive with that anger.

Let me backup a little. Let’s lay some groundwork and define some terms.

Let’s start with magic. I was taught, when I was a wee baby pagan, that magic is the “art of changing consciousness through will” (paraphrased from Dion Fortune). Another way to put that might be “you get more of what you pay attention to” if you want to take all the romance out of it. Here’s the underlying premise--humans are both incredibly powerful and incredibly limited. Our reality is largely defined by how we experience and interact with the world.

I’m not going to get into a debate about objective vs. subjective reality, not even to point out that from our limited perspective as meatsack-mecha pilots, the closest we can get to an objective understanding of reality is a communal agreement that what we’re all seeing (subjectively) is really the way it is. That’s perhaps a rant for another day.

In my practice, I approach magic through metaphor. I find meaning in symbols or stories, and use that to focus my will. A fine example of this (and a nice tie-in with the knitting piece of this equation) is the Knitting in Red shawl that I knit several years ago. The metaphor was that red thread has the power to help knit a life back together. The goal was to process through a period of deep depression. The shawl took me around four years where I spent more time ignoring it than knitting, but by the time I was done the shawl, the worst of the depression had also eased.

Yes, I understand that I was able to finish the shawl because I was less depressed. I also understand that exercising, regular sleep, and an overall reduction in daily stress were also all major contributing factors. That doesn’t mean that the shawl didn’t work -- it totally did. It allowed me a place to focus my will, time, and not inconsiderable talents towards the change that I wanted to see in my life.

My approach to magic tends toward the personal. I use magic, as I define it, to improve my life and well-being. My goals are to improve my health, both physical and mental, and to leave the world a better place than I found it. “Changing consciousness through will” works really well (or as well as it can when the will in question is stubborn and occasionally refuses to cooperate) when I’m only focusing on my own life.



So where does this connect to the political? Feminists and others of a certain age will remember the phrase “the personal is political.” This phrase rose out of Second-Wave feminism in the 1960s, challenging the prevailing idea that the “personal/private” sphere is apolitical and that the “public” sphere is the only place where political discourse belongs.

That sounds pretty great right? Government should stay the hell out of my home and my private life, right? Well, yes, except -- by depoliticizing the “private” women were in effect completely removed from politics and political discourse. (Coincidence? ...I very much think not.) Nevermind the very real consequences of having no societal conversation around things like domestic violence, which member of a household works, legal protection for divorce, etc.

“Therefore feminists argued that the personal is political from two distinct standpoints: politics should include women, who have historically been seen as private individuals; politics should include a wider range of issues, including those historically considered to be private” (source).

So let’s bring it back around - my primary magical focus has historically been personal. I am working to change the world by changing myself. I also hold it to be true that “the personal is political” (second-wave feminism was certainly not without its faults, and we’ve come a long way baby, as they say, but I think they were right about this one.)

Which means that when I use magic and metaphor to change myself, I am indeed impacting the world. When I knit a pair of socks with a snarky colorway name that encourages the removal of our current head of state because I’m absolutely livid at the cesspool that our country has become… well, what does that do, really?

What’s the actual, real world benefit of knitting angry political socks?

1. The socks are awfully damned pretty. They are also warm and comfortable. I have turned my disappointment and frustration into something positive and lovely, and that’s no small thing.
2. I have talked about what I’m knitting and why with friends, on social media etc. I used it as a vehicle for conversation.
3. It helped me to remember to vote in the primary. I had the project with me when I cast my ballot for Elizabeth Warren, but the line was so short I didn’t have time to knit them at the polling station. (No pictures either - they get squirrely when you try to take a picture inside the polls).

So as a result of this magical act I have transformed something hateful into something beautiful, and I’ve gone out into the world and acted in accordance with my beliefs. From my perspective, that makes these socks pretty strong magic, indeed.

Project Notes

Project Name: to catch or ensnare by the foot
Pattern: my standard vanilla sock, CO 68, FLK heel
Yarn: White Birch Fiber Arts 80/20 Merino/Nylon, in "Study In Peach Mint"
Total Yardage: 320 yards
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) 32" circulars, magic loop
Started: January 25, 2020
Completed: February 26, 2020
Ravelry Project Page: here

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.

Welcome to 2020!

Friends of the show will remember that we have a New Years tradition here at chez woolly.  My two besties and I have been gathering on New Year's Eve to ring in the new year, and then share brunch on New Year's Day to make plans and set intentions for ... gosh... probably over 15 years.   It's a lovely part of my personal wheel of the year, and it's a tradition I cherish.

We had to get a little creative this year, because some dear friends of ours got married on New Years Day, and asked me to be their officiant.  It was an incredible honor, and a beautiful wedding. 

Darling, You Look Wonderful Tonight

My best Koren caught a snap of Carl and I dancing to some Eric Clapton.  I'm normally not a fan of pictures of me, but I just love how he's looking at me here.  My heart!

Beautiful or no, the wedding jacked our plans up a bit, but we're clever and flexible people and we made it work.  We switched our brunch to New Year's Eve, set intentions, did some tarot readings, and worked on finishing projects.  (As an aside, my tarot reading said I should write more.  Hello!)

A second piece of our New Years tradition is to finish a project, either New Years Eve or Day (Jess does one, I do the other) and then cast on something new on New Years Day.  May we finish as many things as we start, so say we all.

I finished up these cheerful holiday socks. 

They're Rock and String Creations "Merry and Bright" in her Sashay base. I used the Heel, Toe, Do-Si-Do pattern, with very slight modification (68 stitches instead of 64).  They're sparkly, and pretty darned cute, if I do say so myself. 

My New Year's cast ons (plural, because if one is good then two is better, right?) were the Odyssey Shawl by Joji Locatelli, and a pair of vanilla socks using Valkyrie Fibers Matte Sock in the "Tinuviel" colorway. 

And can we just talk about how well that contrast color in the socks works with the main yarn?  Not only did they not come together, they're not from the same dyer.  The contrast is Soft Sock from Teenybutton Studio.

I'm excited about this year.  I feel good, I've got plans that inspire me, and plenty of beautiful yarn to keep me busy. 

Bad at Playing My Own Game, or FO: ain't I a woman?

Once of the key tenets of this whole February is for Finishing lark is "do not cast anything new on during the month of February." 

The point of the entire business is to double down on the work basket, and clear it out.  Casting on new projects is the opposite of help. 

This year I seem to be breaking all bonds with tradition, and flying the face of the rules that I made up.

That's how we do it here at chez woolly.

February is Black History Month (in addition to being dedicated to finishing), and Google's daily doodle on February 1st honored one of my personal heroes, a woman who was a bad-ass extraordinaire, Sojourner Truth.

I happened to have a skein of DK weight MCN in stash from Birch Hollow Fibers, in the colorway "Sojourner."

#noregrets, I cast it on.  The timing was perfect, and I really wanted something soft, beautiful, and meaningful on my needles.  (Not that having more Christmas socks isn't meaningful, but it's totally not the same thing.)

The whole business knit up in just a few days (I knit over half of it yesterday, in fact) and I couldn't be more pleased.   I cast on the Twixtmas Cowl by Louise Tilbrook, and the texture is just perfect for the variegation.  It did this cool striping thing that I'm really charmed by.

So charmed, in fact, that I immediately popped it on, as soon as I wove in the ends, even though it doesn't even remotely match my shirt.

I love the selfie filters on my camera phone.

Project Notes

Project Name: ain't I a woman?

Pattern:  Twixtmas Cowl by Louise Tilbrook

Yarn: Birch Hollow Fibers DK MCN, "Sojourner" colorway

Total Yardage: 226 yards (almost the full skein - I only have a smidge left)

Needles: US 9 (5.5mm)

Started: February 1, 2019

Completed: February 9, 2019

Ravelry Project Page: here

Glad I got that out of my system. Back to my February is for Finishing list, now, eh?

Yeah, about that...

Mid-Winter Industry: Three New Finished Projects

January was a productive month here at chez woolly, with not one, nor two, but three projects finished.

Side note - I'm not even going to begin to try to do a 2018 round up post.  My apologies to you, as it has some pretty epic moments, like this one, and also this.   But if you're interested, my 2018 projects are grouped together in my Ravelry notebook here.

But anyway, back to January.   Two of the three projects I'm going to share were part of my New Year's Day cast on.  Long time friends of the show will remember that every January 1, my two besties and I gather together to talk, plan, set intentions for our coming year, and to cast on some fresh new projects.

Finished Object #1

This is the Carbeth Cardigan.  Those familiar with the pattern may be asking why a woman who lives in Tennessee needs a bulky weight cardigan.  To which I say:  Shut up.  I do what I want.  Seriously though, that very question kept me from knitting this sweater for a long time.  Until a very smart lady pointed out that as a cardigan it would make a lovely jacket or coat.   That was all the justification I needed, and I was off to the races.

Project Notes

Pattern:  Carbeth Cardigan

Yarn: Wool of the Andes Superwash Bulky "Chocolate" colorway

Total Yardage: 875 yards

Needles: 5.5 mm and 6.5 mm

Started: January 1, 2019

Completed: January 28, 2019

Ravelry Project Page: here

The only modification I made was to knit it significantly longer than the pattern called for.  I added 4" and because it's superwash, blocking added another 2".   It's perfect, and I couldn't be happier.  I even found the perfect buttons in the button box!

Finished Object #2

Having wrapped up my 2018 Christmas socks on December 27th, I found myself strangely bereft of sock knitting.   I set about rectifying that on New Year's Day as well.   Rhiannon bought me a skein of Valkyrie Fibers Matte Sock in her Eowyn colorway for Mother's Day a few years ago, because she is a good girl and loves her mother. 

I knit the heels and toes with a 10g mini (which was almost but not quite exactly enough.  I had some extreme two-fisted yarn chicken going at one point.)

I was alternating the mini and the blue stripe from the main color to finish up the last few rounds.  That's all I had left of the mini and the bit of wound off blue that I had left over from starting the second sock.  It was close but I made it work.

End result:  I love them!

Project Notes

Project Name:  like a morning of pale spring

Pattern:  my basic socks and the Fish Lips Kiss heel

Yarn: Valkyrie Fibers Matte Sock, "Eowyn" colorway, Yarn Baby mini from Row One Yarns for heels and toes

Total Yardage: 336 yards

Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Hiya Hiya 32" circulars, magic loop

Started: January 1, 2019

Completed: January 25, 2019

Ravelry Project Page: here

Finished Object #3

And finally, with both of those projects finished, I cast on and knit a quick baby sweater, as you do.  A dear friend of mine's wife is expecting a little girl, and I'm not one to let the opportunity to foist woolens off on the unsuspecting and wee go unanswered.

It's a simple little top-down raglan cardigan, with just enough little detail to make it fun.  Easy-peasy, lemon-squeazy.

I did have a brief moment of panic and frustration when I went to block it and it started bleeding pink.  This is Knit Picks Swish, in their limited edition speckle line, and frankly, I expect better of Knit Picks.   I rinsed it several times and noticed how much the ()@@!^ thing was growing.  It's superwash, that's normal.  It's fine.  (No I didn't wash my gauge swatch, don't be ridiculous.  I didn't even knit a gauge swatch.  It's a baby sweater.  Yes, I know that means this is entirely on me.  Don't make me say shut up twice in the same blog post. I knit it in 3 days.  It's fine, we're all fine here.)

Anyway, I marched downstairs, threw the thing into a lingerie bag and washed it in the washing machine with woolite and a whack of vinegar.  Then I put it in the dryer on low. 

It seems fine? (Actually fine, not dog in a burning room fine).  No dye was apparent on the lingerie bag, and it looks right as rain now. 

Project Notes

Project Name:  let her sleep for when she wakes she will move mountains

Pattern: Peanut Warmer by Taiga Hilliard Designs

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted Speckle "Andromeda Speckle" colorway

Total Yardage: 194 yards

Needles: 4.5 mm and 5.0 mm 

Started: January 27, 2019

Completed: January 30, 2019

Ravelry Project Page: here

All this industry is at least partially related to why I have such a short February is for Finishing list!

For those of you playing the home game this represents 1403 yards knit so far in 2019.   In 2018 I hit 18,607.  I'm telling myself my goal for 2019 is 10K, same as always, but secretly in my heart of hearts I'm shooting for 20K.  Because I'm ridiculous.

Now Where's She Gone Off To?

Hello, my darlings!  Here it is half done March and I haven't told you how February went yet.  I am remiss.

I managed a metric eff-ton (as opposed to an imperial eff-ton) of knitting, and only finished two things, go figure.

Protest Knitting

My first FO of the month was "Protest Knitting."  I used Susan B. Anderson's instant hit, "Smooth Operator Socks" for the heel, and did my own thing for the rest.  This is White Birch Fiber Arts' "Nothing Says Screw You Like a Rainbow" colorway, in her 80/20 merino/nylon base.  I knit these as a quiet, yet obnoxious form of political protest.  I have grave concerns about the direction our country is heading, and I have the big gay socks to prove it.

My second FO is "Sonder" by Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade.  I don't have a really good FO shot of this one (despite having finished it two weeks ago) but here's a look:

It's big, squishy, cozy, and I have no idea how to wear it.  More on that as it develops.  I used Knit Picks Billow in the "Comfrey" colorway.  It's a lovely thick-and-thin bulky cotton that somehow managed not to hurt my hands at all.

The bulk of my actual knitting time in February went into my Vitamin D cardigan.  At the end of February I was finishing up the short row shaping and working on the set of radial increases at the bottom of the body.   As of this morning I'm done the body and the neck band, and I'm into the first sleeve.

It's at a weird and hard to photograph stage.  I am hoping that blocking will cure a number of ills (particularly with the way the hem and neck band are rolling).   I don't know that I'll make the Spring Equinox, but I am definitely on track to have it done by the end of March.

I also added a whack of squares to my Sock Yarn Blanket/Cozy Memories Afghan (I need to settle on a name, seriously).

It's still a long-term project with no particular end date in mind, but it's definitely growing faster than I was expecting.  I am enjoying the little bite-sized mini-project aspect of each individual square, while building towards something bigger that I'll be able to enjoy and use later on.

So that's what I got up to in February.    I finished another pair of socks yesterday, but they'll get their own post.

How did your February go?

It's February Eve!

And you all know what that means.   It is time for the annual Airing of the WIPs, in preparation for February is for Finishing.

Discovering project bags sure has made my project "group photo" tidier.

We've been celebrating the fine month of February here at chez woolly since 2006.  I mentioned the other day that I've been doing it for 11 years, but then I pulled out my trusty fingers and actually counted on them... and this is my 12th year observing the sacred ritual of trotting out my WIP pile, cataloging it, and then making some sort of stab at finishing any of it.

Early days also included a fair amount of frogging and flinging along with all that finishing, but somewhere along the way my process changed enough that I'm not doing that so much any more.  I'm chalking it up to a combination of things, such as working with nicer yarns, choosing yarns and patterns that want to be friends, and embracing the concept of bailing like a rat off of a sinking ship when things start going pear-shaped.  

I've also really upped my finishing game.  I know I dedicated my entire last blog post to tooting my proverbial horn, but what I've got to tell you guys is too momentous, too unprecedented to let go unmentioned.    

For the first time in all the history of February is for Finishing -- since 2006, y'all -- nothing on the list I am about to set down was on my list last year.  None of the things.   Like, I finished them all. 

WHO AM I?  WHAT HAVE I BECOME?!?

::;ahem::

Anyway I digress.

Let's just get on to this year's list, shall we?  

Being a Compleat Liste of All Thyngs Extant Upon Needle or Hooke 

1. For Aslan.    This is a lovely half-circle shawl.  I'm knitting it out of Lost City Knits Pathways Sock Yarn in the "Rumpelstiltskin" colorway.  The pattern is not very well written, and I'd hesitate to recommend it to anyone, really, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it to a newer knitter.   I'm knitting this for Aslan (hence the project name).   Cast on April 21, 2016.

2. Sock Yarn Mitered Square Blanket.   This is one of those long-term projects.  I'm knitting it 3" square at a time, and frankly I am not bothered about when I finish it.  I'm getting a kick out of adding my bits and bobs of leftover sock yarn (and bits and bobs formerly belonging to all of my friends).  My standing rule for this is that it doesn't really "count" as an active project unless it has live stitches on it. Cast on May 16, 2016.

3. A Light in Dark Places.   I'm knitting this two-color shawl out of Dragonfly Fibers Pixie in District 12 and Peach Melba.  I started it last year for the Yarniacs Colors of Fall KAL, but I put it aside to finish other things.  I just need to get myself oriented and I'll be ready to go.  Cast on June 20, 2016.

4. Sonder.  This is one of the shawls from the Shawl Society by Helen Stewart.  I'm knitting it from KnitPicks Billow.  This project stands a pretty good chance of getting finished in February.  I'm actually rather farther along that this picture would have  you believe, but at the time of this writing it is winter, and night, and ... well,, this is the best picture you're gonna get tonight.  Just... imagine more on the one end.  Cast on December 4, 2016.

5. Heliophilia.  Jess and I have organized ourselves a wee #galpalkal and are knitting Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier together.  We swatched on the Winter Solstice, and we'll be knitting along with the intent to finish by the Spring Equinox.  It's a bit of Intentional knitting, focusing on bringing more Light into the world, and staving off SAD.   I am also knitting this as my Harry Potter House Cup OWL, so I'll be putting a lot of work into this over the course of February.   Again, I'm farther along than the picture would have you believe.  I'm using Morning Meadow Sundries sport weight wool in the "Straw Into Gold" colorway from their Fables and Fairy Tales collection.  I picked the yarn up at SAFF last October.  Cast on January 1, 2017.

6. Protest Knitting.   There are times when current events demand that you cast on socks out of a yarn with a colorway name like "Nothing Says Screw You Like Rainbow."   I'm about 5 rows from finishing the first sock.   Cast on either January 14, 2017.

7.  Lace Anklet Socks.   I'm knitting these for Morgan out of my Rain's Obsessive Stitchery Fred Sock Yarn in the "Lake on the Mountain" colorway. They are part of my Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup Order Mission, so they'll be seeing a lot of action in February.  Right now they are at, oh, about 4 rows, so here is a "before" shot.  They've been on the needles for like, ten minutes.  Cast on January 29, 2017.

8. Geek Love.   For the second pair of socks I'm knitting for my Order Mission, I decided to go to Ravelry and filter my stash to only show me fingering weight yarns.  I scrolled allllll the way down to the bottom (it took a while) and picked one of the oldest sock yarns in my stash, some KnitPicks Felici in the "Mixed Berries" colorway.  This was first run Felici, y'all.   This yarn featured in a previous February is for Finishing, but experienced the "frog" option that time.  Better luck this month, kid.  Cast on January 29, 2017.

So that's the list!  My strategy is going to be dictated by what has deadlines, so Vitamin D, the Lace Cuff socks, and the Geek socks are going to see the most love this month.  I'm going to finish my Protest Socks, and I'm also targeting Sonder.

What is on your list for February is for Finishing?  Have any old WIPs that you'd like to kick in the butt this month?