Finished x 2

Having gone through my WIPs, I identified several from my list that just needed a few hours concentrated work to finish them off and therefore should easily be finishable in a weekend.*

1.     Summer holiday (2012) knitting

3.     Bolero for a young lady

5.     Glittens

7.     Edge-to-edge cardigan

10.   Wristwarmers

20.   Leafy hat

28.   4x4ply jumper

Some of them just need final finishing touches needed, others a little more work but they are all so nearly finished it seems a shame to leave them lying around with their destiny unfulfilled. So as I seem to have finished hardly anything this year, just get projects to nearly finished and then abandon them for some shiny new knitting, I decided to pick one each weekend and finish it off. Starting with the weekend we've just had.

Bolero for a young lady
Pattern: Suzie, Let's Knit Little Angels booklet March 2010
Yarn: Sirdar Calico

This project was a stashbuster - two whole balls used - and by whole balls I mean the last bit of sewing up was done with as closely matching yarn as I could find in my stash because I'd used every last bit of it!

It was also a (late because I didn't see her on her birthday and hence delayed finishing it) gift

I obviously got carried away with this finishing lark because last night I sewed in the last ends on this:

4x4ply jumper
Pattern: Banoffi, Rowan Knitting and Crochet Magazine No. 53
Yarn: Rowan Sienna and Rowan Panama

Please excuse the poor self-photography and the mess in the room behind me!

I really enjoyed knitting this jumper - it doesn't hurt that it knits up really quickly and I'm planning to knit another but with some slight differences - I'm going to have the ordinary stocking stitch, rather than reverse stocking stitch on the outside and I shall make the neckline slightly smaller. It will also be more purple as more purple knitting can only be a good thing - yes?

*Names of projects listed may not be official pattern names. I reserve the right to add more projects to this list as they approach completion and favour them over those already listed.

Stashbusting update

Sadly, my beautiful spreadsheet, with charts, of my yarn stash that kept a record of what came in and what went out was lost in what is known in our house as The Great Computer Woe of 2012. It’s therefore a bit difficult to do a comparison with the beginning of last year, to see how my stash has grown or shrunk since then. I like to think it’s about the same size, but it is possible I am deluding myself.

I have started again with a shiny new spreadsheet. My stash grew in January – Christmas money to spend and sales in yarn shops being an irresistible combination! However, while it might not look like I decreased it from the chart as the gains and increases are in different areas, from the end of January to the end of February, my stash was reduced by the grand total of 1 ball of yarn.

Since then, it has increased again - ooops! I returned home from the yarn shop on Saturday with a bagful of mostly purple yarn. I’m intending to knit up a storm this month though, so am hoping to have balanced that out and more by the end of March.

A year of makes - weeks 3 & 4

Week 3

Sunday

Having been not eating properly for a few days, I had a load of veg in the fridge that needed something doing with it pronto. So I chopped it up and threw it in the slow cooker with a bit of olive oil and about half a bulb of garlic (broken into cloves and peeled), then left it for about 4 hours on low.

The result was yummy and contributed nicely to dinners over the week (particularly good reheated to go with jacket potato, and shoved in an oven dish with a bit of grated cheese on top and heated up). I think I shall do this again as it means I have veg on hand easily for meals in the evenings without having to think about chopping and how to cook. Plus it tastes good.

Most of this week I didn't do much making apart from the odd row or two of blanket square here and there. I was either too tired (I was unexpectedly provided with lunch on a training course on Monday and didn't want to make a fuss, so ate the sandwiches on the grounds that they wouldn't kill me and I have been missing bread over the last few weeks, but I was surprised at how exhausted I was just from a couple of slices– definitely gluten free is good for my energy levels) or busy un-making. We are having our bathroom redone this coming week, so in preparation I've been ripping out the old pine panelling.

Friday

I was getting making withdrawal at this point, so I made up for it on Friday evening. I experimented with a bread in the slow cooker recipe. I think it turned out pretty well ...

... although in the interests of honesty, I should tell you it did stick to the bottom of the slow cooker.

I’m told it tasted good though!

I also made jam and flapjack, and finished this hat for my friend's little girl. It's from this pattern on Ravelry.

Now I just need to finish one for her sister.

Saturday

I went shopping for bathroom accessories. 

Week 4

I didn't get as much done this week as with the bathroom work going on, I had to spend more time being organised! We also spent a couple of evenings at the in-laws so we could use their bathroom facilities (most of the week we had a toilet but no bath or shower) and as I was tired, I didn't take knitting with me – instead I demonstrated that the Kindle they gave me for Christmas was at least getting some use! So only a couple of things for this week.

Tuesday

My stash-shrinking suffered a setback as I had a yarn buying accident. You know, the sort where you go into the shop to buy two balls of yarn and come out with two bags of it. Ooops! Now the spreadsheet needs updating! However, the yarn I intended to buy meant I could continue with this sleeve.

Wednesday

I finished the blue cowl. I almost finished a baby cardigan as well, but decided that sewing the buttons on was a job for proper daylight so apart from the one I managed in my lunch break, put it aside for the weekend. I cast on the first of a pair of wristwarmers to match the snood, and a vest/tank top for a baby.

Saturday

I finally decided on a pattern to knit for my niecelet's birthday. I didn't have the right yarn for it in my stash, but had plans to meet up with a friend for afternoon tea and some yarn and fabric shop browsing, so decided to I could buy suitable yarn then.

After making this decision, I signed up to the UFO/Stash Busting project. However, as I’d already planned the purchase of the yarn, I hoped that would be ok. I already owned the pattern I decided on and planned to use a button from my button collection rather than buy a new one, so maybe it would just squeak within the rules. I also bought some fat quarters as a contribution to my hexagon quilt, a lot of which is made from stash. I cast on niecelet's present that evening. There will be a separate report when this is finished on how this fared as a stash busting project.

Total so far: Finished 12 projects. Cast on 5.

Stash busting gets serious

I have signed up to Miss Katie's UFO/Stash Busting Project over at The Little Red Squirrel. I'm hoping this will motivate me to get projects finished and to reduce my stash - both yarn and fabric. My yarn stash suffered an increase this week after I went to the yarn shop and came out with rather more than the two balls of yarn I went in for. My fabric stash is quite substantial considering that apart from patchwork I've done much in the way of sewing yet and even the patchwork is incomplete!

If I've done things right, there should even be a badge for this at the side of my blog. I've never added a badge before, so this project is already exciting!

The project guidelines given by Miss Katie are:

1. Projects must use at least one item from the stash, for example one pattern or one piece of fabric. A combination of items can of course be used too!
2. New elements may be bought but they must be used with an item from the stash. For example I can buy fabric and notions for a particular pattern in the stash, but I can't just buy fabric all willy nilly!
3. For every new project I start a UFO project must be completed. I added this because I know that personally I get carried away with new projects rather than finishing older ones. This way I'm giving myself a bit of structure and discipline!
4. I will find and/or create projects that use leftovers from the stash. I find very often that I have pieces of material and balls of wool leftover when I have finished a project, that aren't enough to make an item of clothing on their own. I want to find ways of using these leftovers to make useful and beautiful things.

I like these. It means I'm not limited to stash only; if I need something new to contribute to a project I can buy it as long as I'm also using stash. Rule 3 is good, as I have loads of knitting UFOs, particularly after my attack of startitis towards the end of last year. I think in terms of yarn, rule 4 is nicely covered by my blankets and hexagon quilt. In terms of fabric this may require more thought - perhaps more patchwork projects to use up oddments, but this year IS the year I will learn to sew clothes. Yes it is.