Stuff and Nonsense
I have gotten a little draconian with my projects on Ravelry: anything that isn't really, actively being worked on is being listed as "hibernating". This leaves me with only two active projects:
The Farm Blanket
This has been something of a challenge, but I think I'm getting on top of it. Was a bit more expensive than I had hoped, but I think Kate is going to do the assembly (for which I am truly grateful!) and chip in some money (for which I am even more grateful!). The idea is that the finished product will be less a blanket than a play mat, and will represent a farm: there is a vegetable garden, a hay field, a wheat field, an oat field, a sheep pasture, a horse pasture, even a pond. The squares are knit individually, with two strands of worsted weight, so it goes pretty quickly, but there are some issues with the pattern (and you know how I feel about that!). Yet another feral project, between the miscues between the eventual recipient and I, the high cost, and the pattern deciding to get lost, but I will persevere! Have six and a half out of twelve squares done, though the half might have to be taken out and redone, as the second batch of yarn came from different dye lots and the color of the one green was very different. (You wouldn't think it would matter, with so many greens, but it does, it does....) Anyway, here's what I have so far: wheat field, sheep pasture (this is the one that may have to be frogged), hay field, vegetable garden, barn yard, cornfield, and the flower meadow.
As I said, they go pretty quickly. I could probably finish the rest up in a day, if I had a day to devote to them......
Lace-weight Socks
The other project being actively knitted on at the moment is the lace weight sock from Round 3 of Sock Madness II:
Absolutely love these socks! Especially now that I have the yarn all wound up properly, and they go pretty quickly. (This is a pic of the first sock before I finished it; I am now almost this far on the second sock.) Have the yarn to make two more of these, one as a gift, one for me, during Summer of Socks and am really looking forward to it, as I paid to have that yarn pre-wound! (Remember! Make new mistakes!)
However, in addition to these projects, I have six? seven? polar fleece capes to cut and assemble. Kate and Belle and I are doing them for the sewing circle ladies and since I don't crochet, I drew the task of cutting and sewing them, while Kate and Belle will crochet the collars. They are really quite fun, and the cutting and sewing won't take me long. Again, I could finish it in a day, if I had a spare day....
The thing that will take me much more than a day are the 5 corsets I need to make. My friends at Z'Ettiquette have sold another 4 corsets for me, which means their stock is sadly depleted. Since each one takes on the order of 6 hours to make, that's at least 3 long work days, if I had them; more likely, it will take a few months for me to get them all done. Oh, for the joys of a working sewing room and time to myself.....
The stuff that went into hibernation recently are the ancient sweater coat (I really need to finish that this year.....), the scarf I started on a whim, the pants to a Barbie ski suit, the second sock of my Sock Madness pattern, a sock and a half in the revised version of the pattern, the test knit of the Red Carpet Convertible, and the blasted rainbow leg warmers.
Those last deserve a paragraph of their own. How can something so simple (it's freakin' stockinette in the round, for pity's sake!) go so wrong? Dyeing five of the colors went just fine, but the red refused to play nice. Then, when I ordered another skein to try dyeing again, the first half-skein didn't work well (KoolAid failed me!) and the second half-skein went missing! And the pre-dyed red yarn that I bought (just in case the dyeing went badly) turned out to be a) the wrong color and b) way too scratchy to use. I finally admitted that I would not find the second half-skein, so I ordered another skein--and forgot that it was supposed to be superwash. Sigh. I have mailed the non-superwash skein back, and ordered yet another skein. In addition, I have found several colors of Wilton's cake decorating dye that I had been looking for, so I can try several things on the first half-skein. And, if all else fails, I will, by the Goddess, go out and buy myself a carton Rit to dye the sucker, because I am SOOOOOOOOOO ready to be done with this!
The Farm Blanket
This has been something of a challenge, but I think I'm getting on top of it. Was a bit more expensive than I had hoped, but I think Kate is going to do the assembly (for which I am truly grateful!) and chip in some money (for which I am even more grateful!). The idea is that the finished product will be less a blanket than a play mat, and will represent a farm: there is a vegetable garden, a hay field, a wheat field, an oat field, a sheep pasture, a horse pasture, even a pond. The squares are knit individually, with two strands of worsted weight, so it goes pretty quickly, but there are some issues with the pattern (and you know how I feel about that!). Yet another feral project, between the miscues between the eventual recipient and I, the high cost, and the pattern deciding to get lost, but I will persevere! Have six and a half out of twelve squares done, though the half might have to be taken out and redone, as the second batch of yarn came from different dye lots and the color of the one green was very different. (You wouldn't think it would matter, with so many greens, but it does, it does....) Anyway, here's what I have so far: wheat field, sheep pasture (this is the one that may have to be frogged), hay field, vegetable garden, barn yard, cornfield, and the flower meadow.
As I said, they go pretty quickly. I could probably finish the rest up in a day, if I had a day to devote to them......
Lace-weight Socks
The other project being actively knitted on at the moment is the lace weight sock from Round 3 of Sock Madness II:
Absolutely love these socks! Especially now that I have the yarn all wound up properly, and they go pretty quickly. (This is a pic of the first sock before I finished it; I am now almost this far on the second sock.) Have the yarn to make two more of these, one as a gift, one for me, during Summer of Socks and am really looking forward to it, as I paid to have that yarn pre-wound! (Remember! Make new mistakes!)However, in addition to these projects, I have six? seven? polar fleece capes to cut and assemble. Kate and Belle and I are doing them for the sewing circle ladies and since I don't crochet, I drew the task of cutting and sewing them, while Kate and Belle will crochet the collars. They are really quite fun, and the cutting and sewing won't take me long. Again, I could finish it in a day, if I had a spare day....
The thing that will take me much more than a day are the 5 corsets I need to make. My friends at Z'Ettiquette have sold another 4 corsets for me, which means their stock is sadly depleted. Since each one takes on the order of 6 hours to make, that's at least 3 long work days, if I had them; more likely, it will take a few months for me to get them all done. Oh, for the joys of a working sewing room and time to myself.....
The stuff that went into hibernation recently are the ancient sweater coat (I really need to finish that this year.....), the scarf I started on a whim, the pants to a Barbie ski suit, the second sock of my Sock Madness pattern, a sock and a half in the revised version of the pattern, the test knit of the Red Carpet Convertible, and the blasted rainbow leg warmers.
Those last deserve a paragraph of their own. How can something so simple (it's freakin' stockinette in the round, for pity's sake!) go so wrong? Dyeing five of the colors went just fine, but the red refused to play nice. Then, when I ordered another skein to try dyeing again, the first half-skein didn't work well (KoolAid failed me!) and the second half-skein went missing! And the pre-dyed red yarn that I bought (just in case the dyeing went badly) turned out to be a) the wrong color and b) way too scratchy to use. I finally admitted that I would not find the second half-skein, so I ordered another skein--and forgot that it was supposed to be superwash. Sigh. I have mailed the non-superwash skein back, and ordered yet another skein. In addition, I have found several colors of Wilton's cake decorating dye that I had been looking for, so I can try several things on the first half-skein. And, if all else fails, I will, by the Goddess, go out and buy myself a carton Rit to dye the sucker, because I am SOOOOOOOOOO ready to be done with this!
posted by Bridget @ 3:55 PM
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