May/June Goals

In the spirit of spring cleaning, I've decided that the next two months will be for cleaning out all my wips and hibernating projects. A couple of them are so old that they are not even on Ravelry. They include the following lucky 14 projects.

The first two are okay, and have not been languishing:
Cobblestone Pullover - just started
Jeanne's Shawl - started in April

1. Playful Penguin - FINISH IT! This cute little guy just needs wings and maybe a rattle. I can totally finish this and give it to a good home where the cats won't tear it apart.
2. Thrummed Mittens - FROG IT! I don't really like the pattern I'm using, but I love the yarn and the idea. I will have to hunt down a different pattern and get started again.
3. Entrelac Bag - FINISH IT! This bag went through one round of felting and a test run of handles. It needs to be felted some more and some final handles/straps selected. All the knitting is done.
4. Stained Glass Bag #1 - FINISH IT! It just needs to be felted some more and assembled. Possibly add a lining?
5. Stained Glass Bag #2 - FINISH IT! The I-cord strap is nearly complete, thanks to my knitting night on Monday. Then, felting, finishing, and lining.
6. Picovoli - FROG IT! I started this great little top several years ago and never finished it. Now, it doesn't fit because I'm a little bit different shape than I was back then. This needs to be frogged and the yarn needs to be added back to my stash.
7. Joan Baez Cardigan - FINISH OR FROG? This was the first sweater project I ever started, and I'm not sure anymore if the yarn works. I need to block the body of the sweater and decide if this project will work or not.
8. Boring Socks - FROG IT! My mother-in-law picked out the yarn and wanted a very simple pattern. I picked a plain-jane boring sock that I can't bring myself to finish. I will definitely frog and pick a new pattern for her.
9. Green Lace Shawl - FINISH IT! This is something that I will try to start working on again, as it has been hibernating for over two years. I can't work on it at home or at work, as there are too many distractions. I will try to pull it out when I go to the yarn shop to work.
10. Basketweave Baby Blanket - FINISH IT! This one's not even in Ravelry. It's a knitted baby blanket in DK weight yarn, and is taking forever. I will try to take this project on the next long car ride to try to make some progress!
11. Crocheted Wave Baby Blanket - FROG IT! This one's not in Ravelry, either, and it will stay that way. I remember hating this pattern, as it never got easy to memorize and that's just annoying.
12. My Market Bag - I don't know what to do with this one. It's a bag I designed for IC that was rejected. Still, I am proud of it and like it and am trying to decide if it's worth submitting it somewhere else or just writing up the pattern and posting it here. I need to decide.

So, this will clearly take me longer than just May, so I have made it a two-month goal. This will put me in good shape before the baby comes in July!

Progress in April

I have made significant progress on projects ans stash this month, finishing up a couple whoppers and throwing in a few instant gratification items, too. I started out the month with 46,526 yards of yarn on hand and ended the month with 44,114, for an actual reduction of 2,412 yards!

I added 2,167 yards through one purchase and several yarn adoptions from friends. The one purchase was for three skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca which is planned for a bag for my mother-in-law at some point. Most of the rest of miscellanous sock yarn for my little baby booties and celestine star toys. They are a lot fo fun to make and don't take too long with the crochet.

I destashed 1,167 yards by returning a hank leftover from my minimalist cardigan and forcing friends to make some adoptions.

I actually knit/crocheted 3,412 yards! This includes my:

1. Solas Caomh
2. Minimalist Cardigan
3. Roaring Meg
4. Baby Hat and Booties

The total of these puts me right where I was at the beginning of 2009, which is major progress for me since I haven't been making progress!

Roaring Meg

I wanted to share a picture of the Roaring Meg I finished a little bit ago. The weather's now too warm to really get a lot of use out of it, but it will still fit her in the fall when the temperature cools a bit. This is really one of my favorite baby/toddler sweaters so far. This designer has a lot of cute stuff!

Cutie Pie Booties

These are the cutest booties I've seen. They are Saartje's Booties made from some miscellaneous sock yarn I adopted from a friend in a swap.

I found a similar pair in crochet I wanted to try, but the pattern costs $5.95! The designer does have another cute pair for the same price that I might actually pay for. We'll see... I may just have to come up with my own.

No New WIPs!

That was supposed to be my goal for April to allow me time to clear out some of the felted bags and my minimalist cardigan that have been hanging on for a long time. That didn't happen.

My cardigan is nearly finished, with about half of the seaming remaining. The half that is seamed fits perfectly and I love it, so assuming I don't screw up the other half, I should have a lovely sweater at the end of April. Just as the weather warms up here in Columbus.

However, I have not picked up any of the felted bags that are hanging around. I have two stained glass bags to finish for gifts for this Christmas. They were supposed to be gifts for last year, but that didn't happen. One of the them is knit and just needs to be felted more and assembled. The other needs a bottom and strap and felting. It shouldn't take long once I get motivated again. I should probably pick those up before I start on my next sweater. I also have my own entrelac bag that needs to be felted a little more and lined with something. It's too big and needs the lining to add that extra support.

I started and finished a Roaring Meg sweater for Emily, which is so cute. I need to find the camera and take some proper pictures of it this weekend.

I have started and not nearly finished a shawl for my grandma Jeanne up in Michigan. I'm using some hand-dyed purple linen yarn that I bought almost a year ago at Knitter's Connection. It's shedding and a little hard on my hands, but I hear that it soften up quite a bit when you wash it.

I have also started and nearly finished a little baby set out of some leftover sock yarn. The bootees need to be seamed and the hat only needs ties and finishing. I definitely will make it my goal to finish this project in April.

I have also made serious progress on my stash, but more about that at the end of the month. Hopefully, I will have pictures of all these things soon!