Catching Up pt 1

     So, I finally got back to the blog again.  I've decided to play catch up on the things I am working on and see how I am doing so far this year.  I am actually quite happy with my knitting right now.  I have two projects that I am concentrating on at the moment, and hope to have one finished tomorrow.
     That project is my Something Wicked In Green, a sweater that I have been working on, on and off, since September.  It is my first time knitting a raglan sweater and I really like the style (in large part because I don't have to worry about setting in the shoulder seams!)  I had to do quite a bit of redoing on it, because it was a little too short and the collar was too tight.  I frogged the collar and reknit it with more stitches and a looser cast off, but redoing the bottom to make it fit took a bit of work.  I had to put in an afterthought lifeline, which was a first, and add on about an inch and a half of stockinette stitch to improve the length.  I am now almost finished with the ribbing, then just need to weave in the ends.  Here is what it looks like:

     The top picture is the spider on the shoulder, the middle picture is the spiderweb on the front and the last picture is a spider on a purled background that I added for the fun of it.  It is connected by a spiderweb running from the shoulder down the sleeve to just above the cuff.  I will probably finish the ribbing and bind off tomorrow.

     Another project that I am working on is a pair of colorwork socks, called Dark Isle Socks.  I cast these on on Jan 29th, but work on them has been a bit sporadic, due to wanting to finish the sweater above and also having to frog a few times due to size issues (namely that they were too small.)  I am still on the first sock and doubt that I will finish them this month.  The top picture is the yarn used, Cascade Heritage Sock in 5686 China Blue and 9786.  The other two are obviously in progress shots.

     I have also been doing a little spinning (a very little!) on Sumi, my Golding Tsunami laceweight spindle.  I only have about 40 yds, but it is very nice anyway.  I plan to finish spinning at and knit Pretty Thing by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee with it:

     That's all the knitting stuff; I'll post again tomorrow with the non-knitting stuff.

Walking From Hobbiton to Rivendell

No pictures of WIPs yet, I was asleep most of the day, but just wanted to mention that I have decided to join the Hobbiton to Rivendell walking challenge.  Some very dedicated Tolkien fans have figured out that it is 458 miles from Hobbiton to Rivendell and even where you would approximately be after a certain number of miles.  For example, yesterday I walked a little over three miles and that put me over the plank bridge over the water.  I am including general walking and not just planned walks, so haven't figured out where I would be yet today.

2016 Reading Challenge

This year, I have decided to join the 2016 Reading Challenge.  I haven't started yet, because I don't want to reread anything and I don't have any new books to read in the house.  Here is the list and I will hopefully be updating it as I go:

A book based on a fairy tale 
A National Book Award winner 
A YA bestseller 
A book you haven’t read since high school 
A book set in your home state (province) 
A book translated to English 
A romance set in the future 
A book set in Europe 
A book that is under 150 pages 
A New York Times bestsellers 
A book that is becoming a movie this year 
A book recommended by someone you just met 
A self improvement book 
A book you can finish in a day 
A book written by a celebrity 
A political memoir 
A book at least 100 years older than you 
A book that is more than 600 pages (will need to figure out the audiobook equivalent, thinking 45 hours). 
A book from Oprah’s Book Club 
A science fiction novel 
A book recommended by a family member 
A graphic novel 
A book published in 2016 
A book that has a protagonist with your occupation. 
A book that takes place during summer 
A book and its prequel 
A murder mystery 
A book written by a comedian 
A dystopian novel 
A book with a blue cover 
A book of peotry 
The first book you see in a bookstore 
A classic from the 20th century 
An autobiography 
A book about a road trip 
A book about a culture you are unfamiliar with 
A satirical book 
A book that takes place on an island 
A book that is guaranteed to bring you joy

I think the first book will be an audiobook of The Hunger Games, since I can listen to the audiobook on YouTube.  I plan to post again tomorrow of my current knitting WIPs. 

Finishes and Beginnings

Yay, my second pair of socks for 2014 are finished.  If this keeps up and I don't lose my sock knitting mojo, I may actually meet my goal of knitting 12 pairs this year.  Here are my finished Cranberry Biscotti.  I rather like this pattern and may do it again, only more scrappy.  I did end up running out of the pink yarn before finishing the second sock, so I switched to a purple, and I think they look quite good:

So, since I finished that pair, a few days later, I cast on my Valentine Socks (for the record, they are called that for the color and the month, nothing else).  They are going to be based off of Kebnekaise Socks, but with some modifications.  For one, I will be doing them toe-up, using a Fish Lips Kiss Heel for the first time and staying in regular st st instead of knitting the sole in reverse st and with 2x2 ribbing at the top.

In other news, I finally got more hours at my security job!  It turns out that a guard at Direct TV is quitting, so there were several hours available.  I know the site supervisor, having worked that site before, so he had not problem giving me the hours.  I may end up working there full time it they can find someone else to work at Allevard, the site I am at now.  So, I will be working form 16-36 hours making 9.50 an hour.  So, I will only be working at Taco Hell two days a week!

Man, Its Been a Long Time!

I didn't realize how long it has been since I posted anything on here! Close to two years.  Well, to catch up, I am on a hiatus at Marshall University, still working on my BA in History.  Lots of knitting and spinning going, which I will get to later and really beyond that, not too many changes.  I am back living with my grandmother, so expect to see ranting about that from time to time.  So, recent knitting.

I have several projects currently on the go, including a pair of socks, two shawls, and a blankie made from leftover sock yarn.  The socks are Cranberry Biscotti, which uses small amounts of at minimum, three different colors to make a very visually interesting sock pattern.  (Just a warning, most patterns I link to go to Ravelry).  I used three different leftover sock yarns, a Knit Picks Stroll Tonal and two colors of Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn.  I think it looks quite cool:

The upper pic is of the yarn before I started and the lower pic is my current progress; I am halfway through the gusset of the second sock and hope to finish it in a few days.

Another project that I am working on is a Lacy Prairie Shawl.  The cool thing about this shawl is that it is being knit out of my handspun yarn!  I participated in the Tour de Fleece this past year and while I didn't finish my fleece (which was 3.5lbs) but I did make some serious headway into it and now have over a dozen skeins to knit with.  Here is a pic of a day during the tour:

 And a pic of my current progress (it is currently in hibernation, first due to Christmas knitting and now I am on a bit of a sock knitting jag.)

I also have a Haruni being knit from more Cascade Heritage Sock and with added beads.  When I when to MDSW in 2011, a friend I made there gave me several items in a RAK, which included a tube of crystal beads.  I am using them on the border of the shawl, following what someone else did that I saw on Ravelry.  This pic is not up to date, it is actually a bit bigger, but will do for now.

I also have a sock yarn blankie in progress, but don't have any good pictures of it yet.

So, there are my current WIPs.  I also have a few UFOs, but since they are not being worked on right now, will not feature on this post.

I am also trying to participate in the 365 project this year, so hope to post a picture every day.  It will mostly be pictures of either my knitting or my cats, but should still be interesting (I hope).  In fact, my second picture, of the CB socks is my picture for the day.

Maryland Sheep and Wool 2012 prep

   Well, another MDSW has come and gone.  This was a good year.  The weather was great and I had a lot of fun.  I had a bit of drama leading up to it though.  After the 08 festival, I decided that staying in a hotel was cost prohibited if I am going by myself.  All my life I have gone camping with my family and decided to see if that was a viable option.  It turns out that it is very viable and that I am not the first festival goer to think of it.  There is a campground very close to the fairgrounds called Patapsco Valley State Park-Hollofield Area.  In fact, it had its own thread on Ravelry in the MDSW group.  I stayed there last year and had a lot of fun meeting the other knitters and spinners.

   The drama I mentioned involved where I was actually to sleep.  Last year, I borrowed my dad's truck and slept in the bed.  I planned to do the same this year, until the Monday before the festival, the starter on the truck died.  My dad had to take off the old starter, buy a new one and put it one.  So, I ended up using my mom's van instead.  The rear seats fold down, and I slept on them, lying diagonally across them.  As usual, I traveled light, with only enough clothes, some basic food (pb&j, a few corn on the cob and potatoes) plus my knitting.  I saw a lot of friends that I made last year, like Joe and Lucinda from NY and their three Papillons, Bitsy and her two Scotties, Susie Q, and several others.  The festival campers are a very friendly, encouraging group.  After each day at the festival, everyone would do show and tell of what they purchased that day.

   As usual, my prep for the festival didn't take long.  I just packed a few shirts, some jeans and shorts, towels and toiletries meant it didn't take long to pack.  I had been saving money all year in preparation for the festival and after counting it all, I had a budget of about $250.  I spent the night at my grandmothers, since going to get my mom's van then driving back the other direction to go home would be silly and a waste of gas.  I left right around 7:00 on Friday and headed north.  One good thing about the route is that it it is very easy to remember: I-64 to Charleston, then I-79 to Morgantown, then I-68 to I-70, then exit 87.  After a few stops for breakfast and to use the restroom, I arrived at Patapsco at around 2:30, got checked in and found my site.  It was right next to the bathhouse and very close to Bitsy.  I just spent Friday evening hanging out at the campground, meeting new friends and reconnecting with out ones.

To be continued in a few days.

Seedlings

Well, so far I haven't killed anything.  My seeds are now sprouting seedlings.  The garlic is thriving and I will probably transplant it and a few others later this week.  I really need to take pictures to document my progress.  I was planning to possibly plant my cukes earlier than recommended, since we had several days of very high heat.  I'm talking in the mid to uppers 80s.  But Friday it rained and really lowered the temps into the mid 60, with about 40-50 degrees at night.  I can't wait until it is time to plant the other things I am planning to.

I intend to plant bush tomatoes; hopefully Hatcher's will have Tumbler tomatoes, which are specifically developed to grow in containers.  I am considering buying a pole designed to go in the ground to hold plants.  That way they would get plenty of sunlight.  I will also need a trellis for my cukes.  The carrot seeds I bought are for a small variety called fingering, so I think a 12" pot would work just fine.

I went to the local Family Dollar and they sell very nice looking plastic pots for $2.00 apiece.  I plan to put the herbs on the steps of my apartment.  It faces east, so hopefully that will be enough light.  If not, I will move them to the backyard.  My main problem there is that (1 they are not as accessible and (2 the downstairs neighbor might not like it if I use the back stairs, since they go to her apartment.  That is one issue I don't know how to deal with: the backyard is open to both apartment and I hope that she will not take my veggies without asking.  Still, they aren't even planted yet, so I will worry about that if and when it comes up.