Another scarf

Finished another scarf last night. This one is another gift but I love how it came out. Was an easy pattern to memorize. I just have to block it. Took me a week only because I didn't knit on it every night. But probably could easily complete in a weekend.

Works been a bit busy as I am in the final stretch. Three weeks notice is now down to the last one. I'm excited but there's still a bit of wrapping up to do. I know it will never be complete and there will be things I have to leave without finishing but I want to make sure I do the best to make the transition smooth. What's making that a bit tough is the desire to have me start new things. So the best I can do is spec out something new and leave the work for someone else to complete.

I'm glad it's a three day weekend. I have so much to do... but I can enjoy the weekend anyway!

February

Wow. Every time I think I'm going to keep up with this, time flies away from me. January was a rough month for both mine and Isaac's families, and I didn't get to do much knitting or anything really. I did manage to get a new job though... it still is a bit unbelievable to me that that happened but for some reason everything was in alignment and the job literally fell into my lap. My last day at The New School is Feb 20th. Two more weeks. Sometimes I can't believe it all.

I did finish one project for the Facebook Scarf Exchange. This was for my exchange partner, Lisa. I loved working on it though for some reason it took real concentration on this lace pattern. It wasn't hard to memorize, but no matter how much I thought I knew it, I'd end up messing up and having to rip out. I do like how it finished and it was the first project that used up two skeins in my stash. Two down, 98 to go to reach the 100 mark for the year! hahaha Not sure I'll end up getting there, but it's worth a shot. I certainly have enough to use up!

Now I'm trying to finish the pair of socks I started in January (one down, the second half way done) and then a few more small things to finish up as well as the sweater for Isaac. Trying to plan my projects better so there's less on the needles and more actually finished! It will be interesting to see what I can actually do in one year's time (11 months now!).

Early morning rush

Love the early mornings the best. It's so quiet in the city and I feel like I can get so much more done. The streets are empty at this hour so I can really enjoy my Sunday morning. Time for tea as well.

With Isaac still away my time is all mine so I've been doing a lot of knitting. I'm determined to knit down the stash this year. I've got socks planned and scarves and a few sweaters. Some are WIPs, others are new items. All use yarn I already have. Goal is to use 100 skeins and 24 projects by the end of the year. I know I have at least that much yarn. I have one finished project for 2009 - a pair of socks that I finished up on Friday. Although I did start these around Thanksgiving but put them aside for other projects. Like how they came out. Now on to other projects. Keeps my mind off of other things.

New Year... new knitting

As I finish up working on a pair of socks I am excited about all the new knitting to be done in the coming year. Time to clear out the stash of yarn in the apartment and in the storage unit to make room for more. I ended 2008 with a few good projects but there's still too many on the needles at once. The lure of the new seems to always entice me away from what I'm working on at the moment. Unless the project is for someone else. Then I have no trouble completing it. This year I'd like to perfect more techniques that I attempted last year (entrelac, fair isle, intarsia, modular) and put them into practice. I also want to get back to more of the needlework I had been doing before knitting took over.

Knitting and Stargate...

Been doing a lot of knitting lately. Mainly because Isaac has been gone for weeks and he's not here to watch baseball with. So, I've pulled out the Stargate DVDs and started with Season 1. Makes the nights pass quickly and the knitting move along because I don't need to look up to know what's going on. I've done this before.

So, I spend time on Ravelry a lot looking around for things to do and thinking one day I will actually get to do it all. ha... not sure that will ever happen. I did finish two shawls, a pair of socks, a cowl for the winter... and have a few others on the needles. Different things in progress for me or someone else.. all depends on how I like it when it's done. But it's not the finished product that keeps me knitting, it's the knitting itself. Relaxes me from tension at work, takes away worries and keeps my hands nimble. If I could only do it while doing everything else like walking - I just can't manage that yet.

Ravelympics come to an end

I managed to finish two of the three projects I wanted to do which was surprising even to me. The crocus shawl with beads took much less time than I anticipated, especially once I got used to putting on the beads. But the pattern was clear and each row put me closer to the end. Even when a row took 20 minutes to complete! Blocked it and it looks good, but I could have done a better job on the points. Maybe I'll block it again to see if I can get them to lay flatter. Even if I don't, I really enjoyed this knit and the result.

My second project was just a simple cowl for the winter months. I used two yarns and combined them so the handpainted one would be a bit more subtle. Plenty left over so I'm not sure what to do with the remaining - may be enough for some fingerless gloves, I'll have to see what can be done. Not a great photo of it, but I was hurrying to get it posted as a completed project in the olympics.

Now, on to other projects. I'm trying to finish up some of the WIP's I have and use up yarn in my stash so I suspect I'll be making many more socks in the weeks to come. Especially since Isaac will be gone again for awhile and I'll have hours alone to myself in the evenings. I did join NY Cares to do some volunteer work - mostly I plan to go to the Charity Knitting nights for the Purl Foundation but maybe I'll find some other projects that are interesting as well. Thank goodness there are friends to go out with or else I think I'd go nuts with him gone for so long.

Let the Knitting Begin

Hooray! Time for the Ravelympics. The knitting community at Ravelry signed up for different "olympic events" each with a knitting theme. The rules were simple. You had to sign up for an event before the 2008 Beijing olympics began. Swatching (training) was allowed before the start. All projects must be completed by the time the flame gets extinguished. I've begun two of my projects for Team Swiss.

The first is for the Lace Weight Long Jump. I'm knitting a beaded shawl for this one. This is the first time I'm using beads and so it's a bit slow going, but I'm loving the results. The pattern is Crocus Pocus from Susan Pandorf . I am using yarn in my stash for this but did have to go out and buy the beads. I found mine at a local shop in NYC, Toho Shoji. Never would have thought of going there if it hadn't been for the Ravelry community. Love them!

My second project is the Gloria Cowl for the Cowl Jump. This one is basic stockinette for the most part and I've combined a hand dyed yarn with a solid to soften the color changes a bit. I am also signed up for a third event but I won't begin that until the cowl is done.

Now that my cleaning is done for the day I'm going to relax and get back to my knitting! Hooray!