Episode 23: September FOs and October dream plans

 

Hello!  Thanks for stopping by!  Show notes are below

Forbidden Fiber Co's fundraising effort

Jan Hicks post: Jan Hick's Facebook post

Jan Hicks' Etsy Stop

Becca at Sambrie Stitches - Becca at Sambrie Stitches

Sambrie Stitches Etsy Shop

Little Robin Designs Instagram post

Little Robin Designs

Pat Sloan's Youtube video

Eight Days of Hope

Ladybug Stitches SAL

Knitting FO 

Project Name: World's Easiest Mittins
Started: Sept. 24, 2024

Finished: Sept. 28, 2024

Designer/Source: World’s Easiest mitten from Tin Can Knits

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick

Colorway: Charcoal

Colors: Black/Grey

Needle size: U.S. 6 (4 mm) and U.S. 8 (5 mm)

Made For: myself.

Cross Stitch FO

Project Name: Rest in Peace

Started: Sept. 2, 2024

Finished: Sept. 20, 2024

Designer/Source: Becky Noland of www.LucyBeam.com. Chart was in Just Cross Stitch Magazine, Autumn 2024

Fabric:14 count Rustico Aida in the "oatmeal" color. Purchased from Hobby Lobby.

Floss colors: DMC conversion: 931, 799, 902, 356, 221, 3688, 347, 152, 340, 415, 318, 535, 3865 

Previous update:

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Cross Stitch WIP

Project Name: One Piece 

Stitch count (via pattern keeper) as of Oct. 4, 2024: 4,406 / 9029 - 48.8%

Started: March 30, 2024

Finished:

Designer/Source: Cross Stitch Bay on Etsy. Chart no longer available

DMC Floss: 310

Fabric: 14 Count Aida purchased at Walmart

Needle Size: 26

Making for my son. 

From previous update

Knitting WIPs

Project Name: Autumn Socks
Started: Sept. 1, 2024

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Vanilla sock pattern I use.

Yarn: Malabrigo

Colorway: 858 Arbol

Colors: browns, oranges and olives

Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm

Previous update: 

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Project Name: Passenger Princess Socks
Started: June 3, 2024

Finished: 

Designer/Source:Vanilla sock pattern I use.

Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock Yarn

Colorway: Midcentury stripes

Colors: Peach, blue, cream, vintage looking colors.

Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm

Made For: myself.

Previous update

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Project Name: Bly Cardigan
Started: Sept. 3, 2024

Finished: 

Designer/Source: www.Berroco.com

Yarn: My own handspun corriedale, purchased from paradise fibers

Colors: Grey

Needle size: U.S. 6 (4 m.m.) and U.S 7 (4.5 mm)

Dream crocheting 

I want to make a shawl. More specifically, this one. Shawl tutorial

Cross Stitching I’d like to start

Nevermore Raven, Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2024

Black Cat Sampler, Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2024

Endangered Species Club, Lindy Stitches

Youtube channels mentioned

Sarah, Northwoods Stitcher

The Crow River Stitcher

Ladybug Stitches

Pat Sloan

Lindy Stitches

Let's talk about my knitting! (and a couple other things)

 It's Friday. End of the week. Yay! 

Usually I'd try to do some sort of "This is how the week went" if I hadn't written much during the week. 

This week not much happened, except rain and crappy weather. Really.  I worked and when I wasn't working the weather was not conducive to being outside.  Bah!

So I've been puttering with this and that, all the while thinking about how I was going to sort all this crafty stuff out ... I'm still working on it.  Or, as some may know it, I've been in my own head a lot this week. 

Oh, and sewing. But that's for another post. 

I'm looking forward to the weekend, even though it may just be more rain.  I'm looking forward to spending time with my man and possibly having my birthday dinner early.  

Okay, so boring week. Nothing exciting going on. ... Let's talk knitting!

I've been holding on to a few things, waiting to share about them on the blog. I've been wracking my brain, making sure I remember everything and not leave anything out. 

Current WIPS (Works in Progress)

Project Name: February Lady Sweater
Started: May 2024

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Flint Knits.  I still had my copy from the last time I knit this sweater.  Apparently it's no longer "Published" but I'm sure you can still track down a copy. 

Yarn: Yarn purchased from Temu and the label has Chinese written on it.  So ? I can tell you that it's 95 percent alpaca and 5 percent acrylic.  It is SUPER soft. 

Colors: Red/burgundy

Needle Size: US #8, 5 mm; US #10 (6mm)

Made For: myself. 

I started this sweater in May.  My first time working with yarn purchased off the Temu site. Each skein says 100 grams but I have no idea what the yardage may be. Crossing my fingers I have enough yarn to make sleeves a little bit longer than my other February Lady Sweater.

Yarn is super squishy, though, and I enjoy knitting with it.  It's easy on the hands. 

Project Name: Passenger princess socks
Started: June 3, 2024

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Vanilla sock pattern

Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn

Colors: Mid century stripes

Needle Size: US #1, 2.5 mm

Made For: myself. 

I decided to start a pair of vanilla socks and knit on them only when I'm passenger in a vehicle.  I made quite a bit of progress the first week.  I don't anticipate having these done until the end of summer at the earliest. 

Project Name: Monkey Socks
Started: Nov. 12, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: knitty.com

Yarn: Forbidden Fiber Co.

Colorway: Tale as old as time, on the Fortitude base.

Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm

Made For: myself. 

This sock hasn't received much attention the last few months.  The main reason why is that I need to haul my chart keeper with me because I'm using it to keep track of where I am in the pattern repeat. Bit of a lame excuse, but it is true. 

The last time I had it out and was working on it I tried the sock on and it was a bit snug. I reminded myself that they will "ride up with wear"  grow a bit with washing and blocking. The yarn is so nice to work with. 

Look at those stitches. 

I'm will working on my charity stitching.  It's crochet.  Maybe I should have said "Let's talk yarn crafting." 

Project Name: Charity Stitch year-long project
Started: Jan. 1, 2024

Finished: 

Hat and blanket sets for Make Bundles for Babies. 

Yarn: Acrylic baby yarn I have in stash.

Needle size: Crochet hooks of various sizes, depending on yarn weight

Made For: Make Bundles for Babies. 

Hats need to be made for these two blankets.  Since this yarn is a light weight yarn, and not worsted, I need to use a smaller hook and a different hat pattern than what i was using.  I'm dragging my heels on making the hats because of this. 

I have other sets completed.  They are already in the pile of finished sets and sitting out in the she shed.  I had sets left over from last year so there is 12 complete sets, which was my goal for the year.  I'm not sending them just yet.  I'm sure I'll make more, here and there. 

Finished projects (FOs)

I've been holding on to these socks to share. 

Project Name: Vanilla sock
Started: Nov. 13, 2023

Finished: March 5, 2024

Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn

Colorway: Amythest stripes

Colors: dark purples.

Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm

Made For: myself. 

I'm happy with how they turned out. They fit like a dream. 

Project Name: Vanilla sock
Started: Nov. 18, 2023

Finished: March 15, 2024

Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn

Colorway: Coastal stripes

Colors: variations of blue and some white or grey.

Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm

Made For: myself. 

This was the pair of socks I started out on a 9 or 11 inch chiaogoo mini twist and decided I wasn't happy with working on that size needle. 

The toes turned out more pointy than what the photo shows.  I'm happy with these socks too. 

And now that I've shared them on the blog I can wear them. 

Project Name: Opa! Dishcloth
Started: June 5, 2024

Finished: June 11, 2024

Yarn: Peaches and Cream dishcloth cotton yarn

Colorway: green

Colors: green

Needle size: U.S. 5, 3.75 mm

Made For: myself. 

A while back I saw someone on Instagram making dishcloths and sharing the patterns from the Kitchen Sink Shop. Free dishcloth knitalong this year and a different pattern each month.   So I bit and signed up for it. 

This is the first dishcloth I worked on.  I'm almost embarrassed to say that this pattern repeat gave me more problems than it should. I kept messing up. I think because the pattern repeat is so similar to the pattern repeat of the February Lady sweater, too. 

And now for the project I know a lot of people have been waiting to see. 

My Harvest Cardigan.

Started: Nov. 12, 2023

Finished: Feb. 10, 2024

Designer/Source: Tin Can Knits 

Yarn: Hobby Lobby "I love this yarn"

Colors: Cinnamon Cedar

Needle Size: US #6 / 4mm & US #8 / 5mm

Made For: myself. 

I am ridiculously happy with how this turned out. It's super cozy and I enjoyed snuggling in it earlier this year when it was still so cold out. Oh, who am I kidding, it's still cool out.  The coolest June in ages. 

A mid-week catch up

 The last week has been pretty quiet.  Mother Nature remembered it is winter and we have a mild snowstorm going on right now.  Big fluffy flakes when I was last outside. 

One day I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies. 

My son assured me they were tasty.   He blew through them pretty fast. 

I started the grand spinning project. Well, I started spinning the four ounces of fiber I wanted to spin this month. 

Fin Wool Top

Purchased: Paradise Fibers

Started spinning: Jan. 8, 2024

I also started up my first set for "Make Bundles for Babies"

I made one of the patterns listed on the website.  My crochet gauge is so loose that the next hat I make I will need to lose one row.  I'm currently working on a matching granny square blanket.

Most of my attention has been on my DayDreams wall quilt. 

One square. ... 

Two square ... 

Three square ... 

Four!

Last night I wrapped up the four squares needed.  Now I need to sew on the sashing.  Then the borders and all the other fun stuff. 

It's going to look so nice.

In other news, I made a trip to the office today and swung by the stores before heading home. 

I stopped in Menard's to see what they had for potting soil for seed starting.  The seeds were out. 

Um ... yeah ... I may have picked a few out. ... 

Tomatoes, some herbs and flowers. 

Lemondrop basil

Hollyhock - Country romance mixed colors

Hollyhock - Fordhook giants miced colors

Tomato - Delicious

Tomato - Sandwich slicer hybrid

Tomato - Cloudy Day Hybrid

Thyme

Sweet Pea - Queen of the Night, mixed colors

Lemon Balm

Canterbury Bells - Cup and saucer mixed colors

Rudbeckia - Black eyed Susan, single mixed colors

Chamomile - German

Delphinium - Pacific Giant, Mixed colors

Sage - Broadleaf

Onion - Walla Walla

Foxglove - Excelsior Mix

Butterfly weed - Asclepias tuberosa

Rosemary 

To be fair, the tomatoes were on my list to restock my supply.  I had those last year and was happy with production.

I'll be starting some of these this weekend. (Finger crossed) Along with some of the others already in my collection. 

*squee!*

Tonite my hubby and I had a project. The other day one of us decided our spice cabinet was in a very poor state, and we both agreed something *had* to be done. 

I wish I had taken a before photo, because the transformation is remarkable. 

We had no idea we had so many spices! This isn't all of them, either. 

The top shelf is my husband's pepper collection. 

We spent a few hours going through our spices, transferring them, combining the duplicates, and marveling at our spice collection.

Crafty plans and goals for 2024

 First of all, let me share this: 

Last year I wrote down all the stuff I wanted to do in 2023.  Wanna guess how much of it I got done?  yeah, I don't know how much I would be able to cross off that list. 

The list was overwhelming. 

I LOVE lists, and being able to cross items off lists.  I tried to bite was more off than I could chew with this one.

I also stopped doing Words of the Year a long time ago, too. 

I do my best. That's what I do. 

Recently I either read or heard a phrase along the lines of "Goals you can actually reach are ones that require little effort." and said to myself. "That makes a lot of sense. That's what I'm going to do." 

*Minimal is attainable* 

Sounds like I'm taking the easy way out, doesn't it? 

Well, maybe. ... maybe not.

I'm going to set my goals and then figure what I need to do to make reaching those goals realistic. 

So ... what is it that I want to do this year. 

*Quilting*

* My two quilt WIPs I have going right now. I want them done this year.  I need to break it up into bite-size pieces so I'll be able to have it complete by the end of December. 

Sandpiper quilt - Finished 7/26/24

Dancing Stars quilt

I also have the wall quilt for my bedroom.  I started it at the beginning of 2023.  I think. Yeah ... I want that finished ASAP.  *DONE!* - Jan. 18, 2024

* My snowflake cross stitch - I want that done!  I started the project back on 1/1/23. - Finished 4/17/24

* A WIP project page I have the fabric already cut for.  *DONE! - Jan. 19, 2024

* An apron that I've had the fabric for for two years, at least, with the intention of making it for when I need to harvest produce from the garden. *DONE!* - Jan. 20, 2024

* Sweaters - I want to finish the Harvest Cardigan I'm currently working on. - Finished 2/10/24

Bly sweater pattern I have picked out for my handspun. 

Another crochet cardigan, like the grey one I made a few months ago. 

I need to find a pattern to use with some of the yarn my husband ordered for me from Temu. - Finished 7/19/24

Ideally, I'd like to get 6 sweaters done this year. 

*Spinning 

I want to be consistant with my spinning, and not go in a burst during Tour de Fleece, and then drop it again for months at a time. 

If I spin ast least 4 ounces a month by the end of the year I think I will have enough for a sweater. 

   *UPDATE: 2/8/24 - I didn't make my 4 ounces for Jan.  The goal is to get caught up by the end of February. 

    *UPDATE 7/31/24 - I'm super behind on this goal but I've been working on it a little bit each week for the month of July 2024.aving

I haven't touched my loom in years.  I need to rectify that, STAT. My loom is out in the she shed so it's not like I can just sit down and start weaving.  In the wintertime I need to make a fire.  Oh, and there's warping the loom.  I struggle with warping.  I need practice.  

If anyone has suggestions for loom projects, let me know. 

*UPDATE 7/31/24 - Haven't touched it yet. 

A few years ago I discovered a charity (Make Bundles for Babies) I wanted to stitch for.  I want to make one hat and blanket set a month.  Then send off a box at the end of the year. I have plenty of yarn for making this happen. 

*January - done!

*UPDATE 7/31/24 - I have 12 sets done and I'm holding on to them until the end of the year, in case I have the urge to make more sets before the end of the year. 

*Knitting machine

More than a year ago my hubby brought home a knitting machine from one of the rental properties he was working on, I think.  

It needs some TLC.  I've spent time on it, trying to get it to work.  I have joined a few Facebook groups and will be doing some research to learn more about how the machines works and to verify that everything is in working order. 

If I can get this machine working as it should, I can make a TON of sweaters. Wouldn't that be awesome?!

*UPDATE 7/31/24 - Haven't touched it yet. 

These are the *big* goals I want to reach by the end of the year. I'm not going to micromanage myself and say "oh, I  can't start anything new until I finish one first." Nope, that's not gonna happen.  I need to be kind to myself and remind myself that I have other things going on my life, too.