FO: to L, from Mom

Now that the gigantimous secret project has been received by its owner, I can share with all of you!  Such is the nature of presents, Christmas or otherwise...

Last year I received a yarn mega-inheritance from the estate of Alice, a wonderful lady who is much missed.  This overwhelming gift had one natural conclusion: a very large one-of-a-kind blanket for Alice’s daughter, my amazing aunt.

based on Learn to Knit a Log Cabin Blanket [Rav] by Staci Perry; knit with so much Red Heart Super Saver and Lion Brand Vanna's Choice

Almost 3500 yards used!  The final dimensions are 55" x 73"-- each square is 17"x17" with a half inch border in green -- and all the color combinations are meaningful to my aunt for one reason or another.

Pic spam!!

 

 

A properly turned corner, finally!

There was so much yarn, you guys:

a veritable mountain

I wonder if there's enough left for more blankets...

New Stuff, Future Stuff

The OMG I'M DONE-ness of the major secret gigantimous project left a quiet hole in my autumn and that has been more than okay.

I've been bopping along with the blue round-type cape shawl and the eight pattern repeats of the body before edging are finished:

Poor thing can't look any more squooshed, can it.  Hopefully I can start doing the edging soon and slowly liberate it, stitch by stitch, from the circular cable.  That plan may have a hitch in it, though, becauuuuuse
I cast on a new thing!

It's a test knit!  It's wine-colored!  It has beads!
I wish I could will it into being immediately.

This new pretty thing is the very beginning of a year-long experiment -- an adventure, if you will -- that I'm attempting with my good friend Honeyspoon.  You'll hear more about it soon...
for now, suffice it to say, there will be knits.   :)

I can has Thanxgivin?

The country has been full of upheaval, so I'm extra relieved to try to take a day to be grateful for the good things we have.

I'm thankful for... festive bunting!

Increasing and Decreasing Bunting [Rav] by Michelle Moyle; knit and crocheted using 180 yards of miscellaneous stash yarn!

The sweet potato casserole is in the works, so I'm going to finish that up and go eat... 
blessings to you and yours today!

NOM NOM NOM in just a little bit

FO: Camping at the Courthouse

My friend got married!  I made her a shawl!

 Campside [Rav] by Alicia Plummer; knit with a skein and a half of Malabrigo Sock in colorway 856 Azules

They are very happy with their shared shawl.

Exeunt.



p.s. thank you, military and civilian veterans, for your service.
p.p.s. today is an anniversary for me, so I want to tell my parents that I love them.

Frozen Fractals and Feeling Fried

Like all procrastinators, I ruminate for a while over something before committing it to paper.

And like all flaky people, I think I've already done a thing, when in actual fact, very often, I have not done that thing.  Not even close.

What I mean to say is: there has been SO MUCH BLOGGING in my head, you guys!  It just hasn't made it to your computer screen, or even to my fingers.  My brain is a withholding jerk.

It doesn't help that the secret gigantic knitting behemoth thing is still very much a thing, and I offer you this as proof of stuff happening:

What could it beeeeee?

Oh!  And Halloween happened!  This is the first entirely-crocheted thing I've ever made: the unicorn, the Impossible Girl, the creation that was never meant to be:

Quick easy snowflakes for yarn [Rav] by Rebecca Weber; crocheted with, like, 20 yards of an unknown worsted weight acrylic

It's a snowflake, stiffened with school glue gel, used as an accessory in the Queen Elsa costume of one Punkin Q. Pie.  She uses it a little like a Spiderman webshooter, pretending to shoot snow and ice at people?

There are sound effects.

Mot-less Monday: Never Say Never

How Blue Can You Get?

I've bitten off more than I can chew and still I continue to nosh.
Wanna see some knitting?  I can show you some, but not all...
And the stuff I can show you... is BLUE.

Look at this tiny blue stuff with a drinking theme.  The deep-stash yarn is discontinued:

 

Cheers! [Rav] by Cheryl Niamath; knit with just a little bit of Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed in colorway Teal

How bout a Nightcap? [Rav] by Julie Tarsha; knit with just a little bit of Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed in colorway Teal

It's the start of a blue something:

Campside [Rav] by Alicia Plummer; knit with Malabrigo Sock in colorway 856 Azules

Here's a blue test knit:

knit with Malabrigo Sock in colorway 856 Azules

There has been a gigantic knitting behemoth that I can't share yet.
As usual, I'm le tired.  Blue is soothing, right?   zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

WIP Wednesday: Long Term Like Whoa

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while (hi, Mama!) may remember last year's vlog entry: my own and only video blog post as part of Knit & Crochet Blog Week.  And in that high-production-value fantastixtravaganza, I brought up my long-hibernating Spoke WIP, and I expressed hesitation and apprehension and all sorts of okay-I'll-start-this-again-but-I'm-not-sure-how-long-it-will-last feelings re: this sweater Of Doom.

HAHAHAHAHA I stopped working on it almost immediately! That edging was demoralizing -- fingers crossed I can finish this month.  Turns out this acrylic-merino blend is slightly more non-SW merino than my eyes can deal with.  Worsted weight and everything.

You said it, Oda Mae.

So as of four days ago, it looked like this:

Ooh  aah  curling.
Let's see if you can spot this week's contribution,
as of two days ago:

Boop!

Hint: the answer is there is now a sleeve and some.

I'm taking a break every other night because it's August and I can...
but I will get this done.  Soon.  Vengeance  Completion will be mine!

Sporadic, As Is My Wont

So!  Where were we?
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ...
OH!  Blanket!

mod of Half Square Triangle Blanket [Rav] by Lion Brand; knit with 8 skeins of Crystal Palace Panda Cotton Print in colorways Trail Mix, Muir Woods, Seascape, and Coral Sea

The bamboo-cotton blanket is bound off and bordered and on a bed.  Success!

 

I think I've finally gotten the hang of single crochet, though I'm still a little iffy on corners.  How many extra stitches should one use?  Three seemed like overkill, but two seems to be pulling a bit.  I dunno.

The FIFTH Maple Leaf is finished as well -- phew -- in three weeks.  That will never happen again.

Maple Leaf Knit Shawl [Rav] by Natalia @ Elfmoda; knit with half a skein of madelinetosh tosh lace (sadly discontinued) in colorway Flashdance

I will miss you, tosh lace.  :(

 

 

 

I think I'll be taking a leaf of absence (groan) from these shawls now and focus on some other stuff.  I've got some ideas percolating and some new yarn!!  Yarn gifts are amazing!

All the pretty Wollmeise will be joined in a stripy shawl with this new acquisition (thank you, Mama!):

And there's a test knit on the horizon.  And Christmas knitting plans.  And I want to finish at least one long-term WIP in August.  Plans!

Mot-less Monday: A Tale of Two Corners

 

Note to Self: It's Nothing Serious

The fourth Maple Leaf shawl is done and dusted, and I must say that I am thoroughly in love with Wollmeise:

Maple Leaf Knit Shawl [Rav] by Natalia @ Elfmoda; knit with most of a skein of Wollmeise "Pure" 100% Merino Superwash in colorway Mistelzweig

The wonderful commissioner of this shawl is allowing me to keep the leftovers AND has very generously sent me some Wollmeise miniskeins as further payment:

I am so looking forward to working with all these pretties!

I've been doing a boatload of crafting lately, using my commute rides in the mornings to single-crochet a border around the blanket I've almost finished...

...and spending my evenings shotgunning a FIFTH Maple Leaf at 5% a night, to finish by the end of next week, fingers crossed:

65.34%

All this copious evening knitting has been accompanied by marathoning House, M.D. -- the entire eight-season series -- and I find myself affected in more ways than one.  I've been experiencing twinges and weakness in my forearms, insomnia is back, and I've been dropping things more than usual (read: "usual" is frequently).  My husband is very sensible, so he thinks that between my arthritis, my eight-hours-at-a-computer job, and my minimum-three-hours-a-day crafting, something's gotta give.  My nightly consults with the brilliant Dr. House have me thinking it's probably early onset Parkinson’s.

I'd switch TV shows, but I've only got 18 episodes to go!  And break month is only a couple of weeks away.  I can do this, right?

FO: Where Are My Dragons?

My early mornings have children's television as a background, so as I'm typing this, a small yellow and green bear is helping random kids while acting like a secret agent.  Turns out he's supposed to be a stuffed animal, which somehow disturbs me more than if he was a real live bear...  which makes no sense, now that I think about it.

You know what I'd rather think about?  DRAGONS.

 Stormborn Shawl [Rav] by Kristen Ashbaugh-Helmreich; knit with almost two skeins of Verdant Gryphon Eidos in colorway Empedocles

 

 

Cyprienne of the House Ravenclaw, the First of Her Name...

The Game of Thrones MKAL shawl is finished and I love it and I'm wearing it to work today.

A Focused Frenzy

So there was this one time when it rained a lot and tiny ants overran my home and the kid got sick and the husband got a new job... we call these the Lost Days of Late Spring.  But what's a few weeks between friends, right?  Let us never speak of it again. 
Long story short: I've been making shawls and blankets.

There's a Maple Leaf or two!

 

Maple Leaf Knit Shawl [Rav] by Natalia @ Elfmoda; knit with half a skein of madelinetosh prairie in colorway Lowland

 

 

yarn is Wollmeise "Pure" 100% Merino Superwash in colorway Mistelzweig

And a mystery knit-along, inspired by Game of Thrones!  (my progress is far behind most people; the full pattern is now available)

Stormborn Shawl [Rav] by Kristen Ashbaugh-Helmreich

I'm beading each dragon scale, because I wanna.

And blanket squares!  Long-term blankets!  Brand-new blankets!  All the blankets ever!

 large squares: a modification of Norma [Rav] by Meghan Jones, each knit with 50yds of fingering weight yarn; blanket fish from A Recipe for Fish [Rav] by April Broken

a modification of Knitted Diagonal Blanket Square by KOGO [Rav]; this one is in Knit One, Crochet Too Handpainted Ambrosia in colorway 1934 Turkish Rug

The main blanket is a bamboo/cotton blend and it's a secret present for Punkin Q. Pie, the Small Girl Child.

 

Half Square Triangle Blanket [Rav] by Lion Brand Yarn; knit with Crystal Palace Panda Cotton Print in four colorways

That's it for now.  On with your lives, citizens!  And thanks for making a pit stop here with me.