FO: Long-Armed Sweater for a Young Dude of My Acquaintance

So after all that hand-wringing last week, I sat down and got the zipper installed into Rowan's sweater.  It was considerably less traumatic than I expected.  My last zipper/sweater experience was in 2008 in the much-lamented "Man Sweater."  It did not go nearly so smoothly back then.

Turns out, it really ain't no thing.

Pin early.  Pin often.

There are lots of great tutorials out there on how to install a zipper into hand-knits.  I read through this one (Chic Knits), this one (Knit Picks), and just for kicks this one (Techknitting -- this one involves knitting the zipper into the sweater).

And then I went home and just did it.    I pinned the zipper to one side, making sure it was smooth, and laying flat.  Then I pinned the other side, matching the stripes (not gonna lie, the stripes made it easier.)

Then I unzipped and rezipped it a coupla times, just to make sure it was all copacetic.

After that, I hand-sewed it in near the teeth, using a basic back-stitch.  I then used a whip-stitch to secure the zipper-tape down.

See those stitches?  No you can't, and that's the point.

On a sweater for me, I'd probably cover the tape with ribbon, but I didn't bother for this one.

I have no idea what he is doing here, but this is one of the least blurry shots I got of him.

So in summary, after nearly a year (and after knitting the body of the sweater twice -- remember that? -- Rowan's sweater is done and it fits.

And he likes it, so I don't need to make him eat it after all.

Anyway, over all I am very pleased with how it turned out.  In retrospect, I rather regret using Wool-Ease -- at the time my logic was that it's a) cheap and b) easy-care.  But Rowan would have gotten a nicer sweater if I'd gone a different route.  I hesitated to invest a lot into it because I really wasn't sure if this whole "wanting a sweater knit by my mom" thing was really going to last.  Oh me of little faith.

Next time he gets nicer yarn.  (At least, assuming this one doesn't end up covered in chocolate sauce and felted.  I've already given him the "bring it to me to launder or I will end you" speech.)

Project Notes

Pattern: Emilien by Ariane Caron-Lacoste
Yarn:  Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Denim and Natural Heather
Total Yardage:  1381 total yards.  632 in Denim, and 749 in Natural Heather
Needles:   US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)  I used several different lengths of circulars, and DPNs for the cuffs
Started:  September 28, 2014
Completed: August 11, 2015

In Which I May or May Not Have Won Stash Dash

So! The knitting on Rowan's sweater is totally finished.

In fact, in further good news, it turns out that the length of zipper I needed was both standard and in stock at the local Joann store. (This was a spot of random and happy happenstance, as I lengthened the ribbing at the bottom.  If I hadn't done that, I would have needed a non-standard zipper length.)  I was able to run in last night after work and grab exactly what I needed, no muss.

In potentially less good news: turns out I need to get that puppy installed by Friday.  I was under the impression, and I am not actually sure where I got this idea, that as long as the knitting was done I was good to go for Stash Dash.

Turns out maybe not so much.  Something was nagging at my to double check the rules (probably my innate fear of public humiliation) and I ran across this little gem from The Stash Dash Empress herself, Lala.

In the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln, "Well, dang."

If I can work some zipper magic by Friday, my Stash Dash total is 3274 m.  So I've either won... or I haven't.

I guess I'd better get my zipper groove on, eh?

Meanwhile Trillian and Carl's big dude sock are both still in progress and still growing.  More pictures next time.   For now just go back to last week's picture and add a couple of inches in your imagination.

Anybody know a good zipper installation tutorial?

Hoodwinked

It's still all sweater all the time here at chez woolly.  And while I recognize that weeks of updated shots of the same knit aren't any fun for you, dear readers, it's no picnic from where I'm sitting either.

Last Saturday saw the completion of Rowan's second sleeve.  When I did the first sleeve I popped a removable stitch-marker at every decrease (following the excellent example of Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls.)  The markers, in combination with a 22 row stripe, meant that the second sleeve went "Whoosh!" -- I didn't need to pull the tape measure (or the pattern) out at all, I just matched the second sleeve to the first, comparing markers and stripe row counts, et voila. Sleeve!

The dude approves.

Once I got him to try it on and we didn't have use our imaginations to add in the sleeves anymore, it was easy to see that a collar wasn't going work.   See how loose and low the front of the sweater is hanging? The collar would have just made the sweater look like it didn't fit.  (Also, I want you to know that it is taking every ounce of my maturity and will-power, not to mention that fact that we're talking about my kid, to keep me from making a "your mom" joke right here.  Loose and low.  I'm just.  I can't.)

So anyway, after some discussion we decided to add the hood after all. And by "discussion," please understand that I mean that I said, "Hey we should do the hood, I think a collar would look weird," and he just shrugged and blinked at me. 

Whatever.  I do what I want.

What the heck else was I going to do with leftover Wool-ease anyway?

Don't fret though, hood notwithstanding, I'm still on track to be done in time to count the yardage for Stash Dash on the 14th.   I'm about half done the hood, and then it's "Pick up approximately nine-billion stitches and K2P2 rib for three years or one inch...whichever comes first."

So no problem.  And man, it's a good thing I just read back through this before I published.  Do I look like the kind of knitter that would throw down a gauntlet like "no problem" in front of the Knitting Goddess when I'm on a deadline?  Nosirreebob.  I am cautiously optimistic.  At best.

In non-sweater related news, I've done some more work on Trillian and Carl's sock.  They both look exactly like they did before, only more so.  

I could not get the color and light right the day I took these pictures.

Okay, so I might have lied before.  I may have stepped out on the sweater just a little.

On Saturday I cast on my birthday Hitchhiker in some Wollmeise Twin that I had marinating in the stash.   

Gratuitous yarn pic. 

I'm not far into it yet, but I wanted to get it on the needles on August 1.   I turn 42 in a couple of weeks, and I can't think of a better way to mark the occasion.

Life, the Universe, and Everything

Friends reassure me that knitting the same pattern four times is not actually excessive.  Though in a few of their cases I think it may have been an "if this is wrong baby, I don't want to be right" kind of situation.

When Your Stash Dash Strategy Lands You in Sleeve Purgatory

Stash Dash is officially over on August 14 -- which is a little less than 3 weeks away.  I currently have 2256 yards (that's 2063 m), so I'm about a 1000 meters shy of a 3K.

I realized this earlier this week, and (you will all be so proud of me) instead of casting on the half-a-jillion new things that I'm dying to work on, I took myself to my spreadsheet (remember my spreadsheet?) and decided that what this Stash Dash needs is a strategy.

Note to Self:  have strategy revelation a month before next Stash Dash starts, not a month before it ends.

So, I took stock of how much time was left, and what I already have on the hooks and needles.

I needed a project that would be over a thousand yards when completed, but is already close enough to done that I can pull it off in three to four weeks.

Maybe something that only need a couple of sleeves, a button or a zipper band, and a collar.

Something like Rowan's Emilien sweater, maybe.

Besides, if I don't finish it quick he'll grow again.  That child is forever tall, and has arms that go on for miles. Yesterday I messaged my bestie Koren about my sleeve lamentations.

Please ignore my egregious spelling/typo error.

She was very sympathetic.  

Anyway, last Tuesday Rowan's sweater barely had one sleeve started.  As of last night, it has one full sleeve and the second sleeve is barely started.

I feel good about my chances ::touch wood::

When he was last polled, Rowan opted for a zipper (instead of buttons) and a collar (instead of a hood).  I'll ask one last time when the second sleeve is installed, but not knitting a hood in this thing sure doesn't hurt my feelings any.

In other knitting news, Carl's Big Dude Socks are growing (again).

#bigsocksforbigfeet #itmustbelove

I have them in my purse for those moments when you need to take the edge off, and a giant sweater just won't do.

FO: Stick a Fork in It Socks

#operationclearthesockneedles has net me two new pairs of socks so far.  Or well, one pair was for Morgan, but anyway, I've finished two pairs.

Of course those where the two pairs that had the first sock done, so. 

These are Lara Neel's Fork in the Road socks.  She offered the pattern for free when her book Sock Architecture came out.  It has a "new to me" heel and toe construction, the "thumb-joint hat top" heel and toe (the name of which I can NEVER get right, no matter how many times I try to say it.  I keep calling it a thumb-top hat-trick heel.)

That heel, tho

I digress.

I learned some really interesting things with these socks - when I first cast them on, I was using a 9" circular (that was the first thing I learned...I don't care for tiny circs for socks) so I couldn't try them on.  I cast on 64 stitches, which is my usual with a 1.5 (2.5mm) needle.  Once I got the first heel installed I had a moment of panic, regret, and cussing because I thought I'd made the dang things too small.   Turns out I just didn't knit the heel deep enough before starting the decreases.  Having a heel that was too shallow made the entire sock feel too small.  All I ended up having to rip back was the tip of the heel.   I made the "gusset" deeper and Bob's yer uncle, they fit.

The pattern is written with what Charlene Schurch calls a "fore-thought heel."  I'm allergic to provisional cast-ons, and find fore-thought heels really fiddly.  So I did a "mid-thought" heel.  I put in a rip-cord and came back after about an inch or two and installed the heel.  

Doing it this way (instead of just waiting until the end like a normal person) means that I have more information about fit when I start the toe, since I can try the sock on once the heel is installed.

I find afterthought heels (whenever you end up installing them) kind of fussy, but I sure do like how they work with self striping yarn.   Over all I'm giving this pattern "A+, would knit again."

I think Morgan agrees.  I asked her to model for me this morning, and she hasn't taken them back off.

Pattern Notes:

Pattern: Fork in the Road Socks, by Lara Neel

Yarn: Jarbo Garn Mini Raggi, in the "68103" colorway

Total Yardage: 294 yards

Needles:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm) (I switched needles a couple of times on this project.  Started with a Hiya Hiya 9" circular, ended with 5" Knitter's Pride DPNs)

Started: April 7, 2015

Completed: July 18, 2015

Current Stash Dash Standing: 2256 yards

FO: Dark Rainbow Cowl

So, earlier this summer Jess, Koren, Morgan and I met up with some friends who live in the internet at the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival.  This was the first year we went, and it was a blast.  It was kind of a small festival, but there were some awesome vendors and the company (my besties and the aforementioned internet friends) was fantastic.

Anyway, at the Haus of Yarn's Yarn Bus (they totally have a bus.  Full of yarn.  Awesome.) I ran across a Wonderland Yarns/Frabjous Fibers gradient set.  They had a sample cowl knit up, and friends it got me.  I saw the sample, bought the kit and Boom! instant cowl.  Those Haus of Yarn ladies know their business.

The yarn is a lovely, squashy sport weight wool.  The pattern is designed for lace weight mohair.   This is one of those times that being able to see beyond what the designer intended is a really valuable skill.   I'm really good at executing on someone else's creativity; I can take a good idea and riff on it like nobody's business.   But I'm not always great at seeing the possibilities of changing fiber type or gauge, or hell.... this is such a simple change (five sport weight merino solids instead of one mohair lace weight), and it looks like a completely different project.

All of which is to say, I saw the project, bought the yarn, and knit it up.  Friends of the show will recognize how unusual that is for me... and heck, I did it all within months (not years) of buying the yarn.  

Go me!

Now, the less good news.  It occurred to me... a little late (like, when I was ready to block) that red can bleed, and yellow is a pretty darned pale color.  I tried to check for bleeding.

Highly scientific methodology

And my early tests seemed to indicate that I was gonna be okay.  And by "early tests" I mean "I stuck a bunch of scraps in warm water in a clear cup and watched."   Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Anyway, I didn't see any bleeding in my little yarnish microcosm, so I went for it... and (you know where I'm going with this don't you?) yeah.  It bled.

My awesome, gorgeous yellow is now... splotchy.

I wish I had done a citric acid soak (as described by Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls) before I started.  I further wish that a) my husband wasn't violently allergic to citric acid and b) the frickin' yarn would have been color fast in the first damn place.

Ah well, it isn't very obvious when I'm wearing it (or at least I don't think it will be.  It's July in Tennessee, so I've only had it actually on my personage for approximately 45 seconds before I had to take it back off).   But even so.  I'd be happier if it hadn't bled to begin with.

Ultimately I'm happy with it, and I can see me wearing it a lot during the winter months.  The bleeding was a hell of a bummer though.

Project Notes

Pattern: Mohair Bias Loop by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas

Yarn: frabjous fibers Mad Hatter Mini Skein Pack, Dark Rainbow

Total Yardage: 430 yards

Needles:  US 8 (5.0 mm) Hiya Hiya Sharps, interchangeables

Started: June 6, 2015

Completed: July 10, 2015

FO: LUC Socks for Morgan

In between, around, during, and after all the remodeling going on around here, I've found a surprising amount of time to knit.  If I sit down for ten minutes, that's 3 minutes I'm checking Ravelry and sending Koren and Jess pictures of progress, and 7 minutes I'm knitting.

All of that industry allowed me to complete Morgan's new "LUC Socks" earlier this week.

Our grass is really a little high for this.  I swear we just mowed.

In case you're wondering what the heck an "LUC Sock" is, LUC is the "Lectora User Conference" -- it was in Nashville this year, and if you remember I cast these on specifically so I would have something to do while attending break-out sessions.

The first one flew off the needles but then I saw something shiny I guess (you know how it is) so the second pair languished for a bit.

Proud owner of a new pair of socks

These are plain-Jane vanilla socks, no muss.  The fanciest thing about them is the 1x1 rib I started them with.  (I have no idea why 1x1 ... I was on auto-pilot when I started the first one.  I normally default to 2x2, so I'm not sure where my brain was.)

The glamorous life of a sock model...trying to get grass off of her new socks.

Morgan likes them, they fit, and all is well.   #operationclearthesockneedles is well underway.

Project Notes

Pattern: Standard top-down vanilla sock, CO 64 stitches.  Loosely based on Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's "A Good Plain Sock Recipe."
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Merino in the evocative "2152" colorway
Total Yardage: 285 yards
Needles:  US 2 (2.75 mm) Knitter's Pride DPNs
Started: April 28, 2015
Completed: July 9, 2015

Current Stash Dash Standing: 1664 yards (1521 meters)

FO: When You Wish Shawl

I first heard about the When You Wish Shawl pattern from one of my online knitting communities.  The shawl was designed in honor of grieving mothers.  Proceeds from the pattern sales were going (might still be -- I'm not entirely sure?) to SHARE, a group dedicated to pregnancy and infant loss support.

I have been incredibly blessed that I have not had to deal with this particular tragedy personally, but I have many close friends who have dealt with miscarriages and long, drawn-out, and frustrating attempts at maintaining a viable pregnancy.

Which, okay -- all of that is pretty much buzzkill city.  I'm glad I was introduced to the pattern though, glad that I was able to support SHARE, and glad that I now have this beautiful shawl that will represent that simply, "I grieve with thee."

This project has a lot to recommend it.  It took the variegated yarn and handled it like a champ, it has a great, crescent shape, interesting construction, and it changes the stitch pattern often enough to stay really interesting.

There are three different star motifs (hence, "When You Wish), separated by a section of ruching.

My favorite part of the project, and this is gonna make you laugh, is the fiddly-ass bind-off.  It involves a three stitch, knitted on edging, a bobble (or a nupp?  one of those), and -- and this is the best part -- knitting backwards.

I'd never done that before, so I was excited to get to try a new technique.  And counter-intuitive as it might seem, it was kind of cool that the bind-off was totally part of the design element, not just a final step to rush through since the project is pretty much already done.

Check Out that Nupply Action!

Since the backwards-knitting was a new technique that I'd never tried before, I headed straight for trusty Google.   I found just the thing at the New Stitch a Day website.

I did try to get some modeled shots. I changed my shirt and everything.  I drafted my husband to be my photographer, which, okay, never really quite works out. This is me trying to get him to hold the camera straight.

This might be the best of the lot

And then there's this one.

There's a lot going on back here

Oh well.  The shawl is pretty great either way.

Project Notes

Pattern: When You Wish by Amy Kenagy
Yarn: Into the Whirled Manchester Sock, in the il tramonto colorway
Total Yardage: 361 yards
Needles:  US 7 (4.5 mm) 24" Hiya Hiya circulars
Started: May 10, 2015
Completed: June 27, 2015

Heck Yeah 'Merica!

We're about to embark on another crazy couple of weeks of home improvement -- painting, ripping up carpets and installing hardwood flooring in our living room.  The timing of all of this meant that our normal 4th of July shenanigans had to be rescheduled a week early.  So yesterday my two besties, Jess and Koren, came over and we watched 1776 (like ya do), both Captain America movies (like ya do), and listened to last year's recording of NPR's annual reading of the Declaration of Independence.  

Like ya do.   

We didn't do fireworks, because I don't want to be THAT NEIGHBOR.  But we hit all the other high points (including charred meats and fermented beverages).  It's a lovely tradition we have and it is as much or more my Mid-Summer ritual than anything that happens on the 21st.  

This weekend I am particularly proud to be an American.   The news of the day made the timing of our celebration even better.  I'm glad that we decided to do it early instead of skipping it altogether. 

#lovewins

I cast on a pair of rainbow socks to commemorate the day.

I also finished the fancy-pants bind-off of my When You Wish shawl yesterday while watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier.   I'll talk more about the bind-off when I do my FO post, but early indications are that it's fiddly, but worth it.

I've got it out blocking now, so I should be able to get final FO shots and the post up this week.

I'm finally taking my playmat tiles out for a test drive.

My Dark Rainbow Cowl is also coming along nicely.  I'm farther along now even than this picture indicates (I took pictures this morning, and have gotten some knitting done in the mean time.)  I have maybe half of the last purple to go, and then I'll block it and kitchener it shut.  My current plan is to block first, then kitchener, because I think I'll get a better result from blocking it flat.  More on that as it unfolds.

I love all the rainbows I'm knitting right now.

I haven't really done any more on Morgan's second purple sock.  I think I'll concentrate on that next, once my cowl is done.  Apparently even my scattershot approach will come through if I just keep at it long enough.

My current Stash Dash standing is still under 1K, (949 yds/867 m to be exact), but the cowl will put me back in the game.  Then it's Morgan's socks, and who knows what'll be next?  Maybe Rowan's sweater, while it still has half a chance of fitting him.

Scattershot

So I was all set to complain about how I'm not finishing anything and my "Stash Dash" is more of a "Stash Mosey," but then I took what I've been working on outside to take pictures.

Well, that explains it then.

I've spent most of this past week working on my Dark Rainbow Cowl.  I went on a business trip and over the course of two days and four planes, a lot of progress was made.

I originally cast on the number the pattern calls for (following the advice of the shop owner whose sample I was inspired by), but once I'd finished the yellow I realized it was both too short and too wide.  So last Tuesday I ripped it out and started over with 20 fewer stitches.

Much better.

It's nothing but plain stockinette for miles (with a wee bit of increasing and decreasing to get the bias effect), but that makes it perfect for knitting while reading, watching the husband play video games, or TV.

I'm nearly done with the red, and after that it's two colors to go.

I've also been working on When You Wish by Amy Kenagy.  It's coming along nicely.  I have another 10 rows or so of lace, and then I have to parse the knitted bind off.  I've never knit backwards before, so that should be fun.

I've also got Morgan's second sock in my purse for emergencies.  You know... knitting emergencies.

It does occur to me that some concentrated effort on my part would probably yield better results than my current scattershot approach.

In my defense, that's only three of the 15+ projects I currently have on needles or hooks.

In light of that, I'm being practically monogamous.

Summer of the "along"

There are so many alongs going on this summer, I can't even.

Gradients.  Beautiful, luscious, gradients

Not sure what an "along" is?  It's when a stash of knitters (I just now decided that the plural descriptor for knitters is "stash") all decide to work on the same thing - more or less - at the same time - more or less.   How strict, structured, or scheduled participation is will vary from group to group.

Anyway, they are busting out all over the place and I got a fever.

Now I know, I know.  I swore off alongs.  I said I was tired of allowing social pressure to harmoosle me into knitting things that I don't like or that make me look like a psychedelic gila monster, exiled from the 60s.

No really.  Psychedelic Gila monster. Terrible.

I've learned my lesson though, and this time all of the alongs I'm considering are much more "choose your own adventure" and less "you must knit this specific pattern."   Which means that I can still get my social-lemming knitting groove on without another travesty like the one above.  (What was I thinking?)

Without further ado:  the alongs under consideration this summer.

Stash Dash 2015

Michelle from Actually Knitting observed that if you were the drinking sort, and you took a shot every time a podcaster mentioned Stash Dash you'd be in a world of hurt by now.  She ain't just whistlin' Dixie either.  It is EVERYWHERE.   Hosted by the Knit Girllls, Stash Dash is a summer long event where the primary goal and focus is to knit a bunch of stuff.  Specifically enough stuff to add up to a 3K, 5K, or a 10K worth of meterage.  (I confess, I have been converting everything to Imperial, because I am that way, and because I speak yards not meters).

Stash Dash runs from May 22 - Aug 14.  You can learn more about it here.

This is like February is for Finishing on steroids.  Absolutely perfect.

Gradient-along

My online knitting community is hosting a very low key, join when you want, knit what you want Gradient-along.  The only rule?  Knit something out of yarn that you can convince yourself qualifies as a gradient.

I'm using this for my first project (there might be two, we'll see how it goes).

This is the same yarn I showed above -- I used Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls' trick to wind all of the minis into one cake.

The Gradient-along runs from now until we all get bored and wander off.

Outfit-along or OAL

This one is jointly hosted by Andi Satterlund (link to her Ravelry designer profile)  of Untangling Knots and Lauren of Lladybird.  It's a sewing-and-knitting-to-create-an-outfit-along.  The rules are that you sew one garment, knit another, and they should go with one another.  There is an official sweater pattern (designed by Andi) and an official dress pattern (that Lauren will provide pattern support and tutorials for) but you can knit or sew anything you want.

I ran across this just as it was wrapping up last year, so I'm seriously considering giving it a go this year. I've been wanting to get back into sewing and this seems like a great excuse.

The OAL runs from June 1 - July 31, so if I'm doing this I'd better get a move on.  More details can be found here.

And last but not least is the:

Colors of Fall 2015 KAL

Every year Pantone announces to the world what colors will be trending in up-coming seasons.  (I know they do it for Fall and Spring,  Anyone know if they do Summer and Winter too?)   This is another along that I caught too late last year to join.  

The idea is to use the Pantone Fall 2015 color palette to knit something and then create a "look" (read: outfit).   If I play my cards right I could totally double dip this one with the OAL.   Although, I have a summery dress with a light sweater in mind for that, so we'll see if the colors work.

My favorite color is "fall" so I'm all over this palette.

The Colors of Fall KAL is hosted by Gayle and Sharlene of the Yarniacs podcast.  (This reminds me, I really need to do a blog post on knitting podcasts).  

It runs from June 21 - Sept 23.   That would make the timing tricky if I did try to combine it with the OAL, but if I did the sewing first (before June 21) and then cast on the knitting after June 21... I could make it work, as they say.

More on the Colors of Fall KAL here.

So what are you into this summer?

FO: Giraffe Neck Warmer

My 3 Color Cashmere Cowl is done, and I love it.

I bought the yarn this year at Stitches South, and cast it on the very next day.  I'd been scouting for yarn for this pattern for a while -- and had even gone so far as to buy some Knit Picks Capretta for it.  But the Capretta turned out muddy and subdued, and not at all the crisp, beautiful colors that I was looking for.  I wanted a blue with some POP, and I think I found it with this silk/cashmere blend.

Also, can I just say that there is very little about knitting with silk and cashmere that I do not love?  It just feels so decadent, so elegant.  And it has that raw-silk smell to it.  Divine.  My only complaint is a mild one -- the nature of the yarn led it to be splitty, and I found that the more I knit with it the more it unwound itself.  So there's that.  I don't know that I would buy this exact yarn again if I ran across it at a show or festival, but I'm not at all sorry that I tried it.  (More to come when I actually wet block the cowl.  That could potentially change my opinion in either direction, depending on how that goes.)

I had to get a little creative at the last minute, because I completely ran out of the tan-beige yarn.  So the lace is quite abbreviated and I subbed in the blue for the last two contrast stripes.

I aaalmost ripped the lace out, with the intention of re-doing it in the dark brown and then I'd have enough of the lighter color left for the final stripes, but in the end I decided to roll with it the way it was.

I think it works.

Project Notes

Pattern: 3 Color Cashmere Cowl by Joji Locatelli
Yarn: Artisinal Yarns SilkyB Cashmere, 3 skeins in Beige, Brown, and Blue
Total Yardage: 532 yds.  I used up all of the brown and beige, but I had nearly a third of the blue left
Needles:  US 7 (4.5 mm) 24" Hiya Hiya circulars
Size: Giraffe
Started: April 26, 2015
Completed: June 2, 2015

My Stash Dash total is 532 yds (as this is my first finished object.)  And yes, I updated my spreadsheet.