So Monday begins again and even though it's still early, I'm already feeling like the keeper in the zoo when all of the animals are out of their cages and going wild.
In farm news ... All of the lambs have finally lost their tails. Frenchie was the last one and I am happy to report that after a touch-and-go last two weeks, she is finally looking and acting like a healthy lamb should. Lennie, her pen mate, is just plain wild and ready to go out and show everyone who's boss.
In family news ... Scout 1 had a work-related accident on Saturday and is on crutches with stitches this week. Although it appears to be less severe than the doctor initially thought, meaning no fractured ankle, having a 19 year old that can't do for himself has been a bit ... more work for the mama. This mama doesn't need any more to do on her list. Scout #2 has his first retail job, and he seems to like it. He's saving up for car insurance, so until he has his car, I'm his personal driver. And Rocket went to basketball camp yesterday for her first sleep-away camp. She's at the University of Georgia being coached for three days by the entire Lady Dogs coaching staff AND the entire Lady Dogs basketball team. The graduated seniors even stuck around for camp this week, which was a total surprise. She's torn between being more exhausted than she has ever been in her life and being star struck. She took pictures yesterday with her two basketball heroines and was on cloud 9, so good for her!
In knitting news ... About a month ago, I got it into my head that if I cast on for a bunch of things at once, then I would be more likely to get them done because I could just rotate and never get bored. Well, I have 5 new projects on the needles right now, and pitiful little to show for it. Turns out, when I only focus a little on each one, I get the feeling that nothing is every going to get done and so all of these projects are now making me feel more overwhelmed than entertained. Also, for the first time ever, all but one of my WIPs are in my own yarn. Not sure how that happened because the stash bug bit and I have an embarrassingly large amount of yarn that has been added to the stash over the last 6 weeks or so with specific purpose--most Christmas knitting.
I have a new pair of All About That Curve on the needles (nearly half finished) in Cedar Hill Farm Co.'s Gypsy in the Electric Algae colorway. I am REALLY liking how this knits up, too!
I have Hitofude by Hiroko Fukatsu on the needles in Cedar Hill Farm Co.'s Silk Sheep in the Veridian colorway. I put this down about 2 days after I started it, and returned to it last night. Initially, it was one of those projects that I couldn't find a rhythm for, but when I picked it back up last night, it sailed across the needles. I am going to find it hard to put this one down again. I am planning to have it finished for the Georgia Fiber Fest in September, so I have some time yet on this one. (Why yes, that is a large Cedar Hill Farm Co. square-bottom bags in the photo!)
I have a new sweater vest design on the needles for the book I'm working on in Cedar Hill Farm Co.'s Journey in the Lerwick colorway. This one has been floating about in my brain for a while and it only decided to come out on Saturday, which was a very inconvenient day for me to be compelled like a mad woman to get it cast on and start on the writing of it.
I have a new Serendipity scarf on the needles in Cedar Hill Farm Co.'s Gypsy in the Iris colorway. I've worn the original down to something not quite good enough to display at shows, so it's time for a new one. Purples aren't usually my thing, but I'm quite drawn to purple lately, and that's probably a direct result of my lingering grief over the death of Prince. I was hit unexpectedly hard by that one.
I have Bounce by Tin Can Knits on the needles. I'm making this as a shower gift for my husband's step-daughter from a previous marriage in a new line that won't be released in the shop until Fall, 2016. This is a super wash, SUPER squishy DK that hasn't been named yet. I did gradients in two main colors, teal and canteloup, and then cream, her other color of choice is the border color. Two colors in 11 gradient shades each. I hope this turns out to her liking. I've had a very difficult time trying to decide how to place the colors, and I finally decided to do dark to light, from the edge to the center, for each color. To me, these colors just don't jive well with one another in a "baby" fashion, so to avoid the risk of it ending up ugly, I'm just taking that safe route. There is much more work to this blanket than I anticipated, and this is another of those projects where I haven't found a rhythm yet. But, like the Serendipity Scarf, Hitofude, and the two book projects, I have until September to cast off.
It's beginning to sound like September is going to be FO madness.
And lastly, the ever languishing sea of stocking stitch that is evolving at a snail's pace into a hooded cape for the book is on the needles. This is one of those projects where, despite the fact that I knit like the wind, you get to the end of the row and feel like there should be a prize for having just finished the row. Right now it's at 334 stitches in a worsted weight Cascade 220 superwash. And I'm knitting it in the summer, in Georgia, in temperatures that suggest we live in the Sahara Desert instead of in the Appalachian foothills. So, yeah, every row deserves a celebration. I put this down for quite a bit because also I can't find a rhythm. I've tried to make a deal with myself to do three rows a day because this really does need to get done and there will be so much embellishment work that the body is going to seam like a breeze. It's day 4 of that deal and I'm mostly on track so far.
Well, that's what I have going on as this week begins. Hope your week is a great one!
In farm news ... All of the lambs have finally lost their tails. Frenchie was the last one and I am happy to report that after a touch-and-go last two weeks, she is finally looking and acting like a healthy lamb should. Lennie, her pen mate, is just plain wild and ready to go out and show everyone who's boss.
In family news ... Scout 1 had a work-related accident on Saturday and is on crutches with stitches this week. Although it appears to be less severe than the doctor initially thought, meaning no fractured ankle, having a 19 year old that can't do for himself has been a bit ... more work for the mama. This mama doesn't need any more to do on her list. Scout #2 has his first retail job, and he seems to like it. He's saving up for car insurance, so until he has his car, I'm his personal driver. And Rocket went to basketball camp yesterday for her first sleep-away camp. She's at the University of Georgia being coached for three days by the entire Lady Dogs coaching staff AND the entire Lady Dogs basketball team. The graduated seniors even stuck around for camp this week, which was a total surprise. She's torn between being more exhausted than she has ever been in her life and being star struck. She took pictures yesterday with her two basketball heroines and was on cloud 9, so good for her!
| with "Patches" Roberts |
I have a new pair of All About That Curve on the needles (nearly half finished) in Cedar Hill Farm Co.'s Gypsy in the Electric Algae colorway. I am REALLY liking how this knits up, too!
I have Hitofude by Hiroko Fukatsu on the needles in Cedar Hill Farm Co.'s Silk Sheep in the Veridian colorway. I put this down about 2 days after I started it, and returned to it last night. Initially, it was one of those projects that I couldn't find a rhythm for, but when I picked it back up last night, it sailed across the needles. I am going to find it hard to put this one down again. I am planning to have it finished for the Georgia Fiber Fest in September, so I have some time yet on this one. (Why yes, that is a large Cedar Hill Farm Co. square-bottom bags in the photo!)
I have a new sweater vest design on the needles for the book I'm working on in Cedar Hill Farm Co.'s Journey in the Lerwick colorway. This one has been floating about in my brain for a while and it only decided to come out on Saturday, which was a very inconvenient day for me to be compelled like a mad woman to get it cast on and start on the writing of it.
I have a new Serendipity scarf on the needles in Cedar Hill Farm Co.'s Gypsy in the Iris colorway. I've worn the original down to something not quite good enough to display at shows, so it's time for a new one. Purples aren't usually my thing, but I'm quite drawn to purple lately, and that's probably a direct result of my lingering grief over the death of Prince. I was hit unexpectedly hard by that one.
I have Bounce by Tin Can Knits on the needles. I'm making this as a shower gift for my husband's step-daughter from a previous marriage in a new line that won't be released in the shop until Fall, 2016. This is a super wash, SUPER squishy DK that hasn't been named yet. I did gradients in two main colors, teal and canteloup, and then cream, her other color of choice is the border color. Two colors in 11 gradient shades each. I hope this turns out to her liking. I've had a very difficult time trying to decide how to place the colors, and I finally decided to do dark to light, from the edge to the center, for each color. To me, these colors just don't jive well with one another in a "baby" fashion, so to avoid the risk of it ending up ugly, I'm just taking that safe route. There is much more work to this blanket than I anticipated, and this is another of those projects where I haven't found a rhythm yet. But, like the Serendipity Scarf, Hitofude, and the two book projects, I have until September to cast off.
It's beginning to sound like September is going to be FO madness.
And lastly, the ever languishing sea of stocking stitch that is evolving at a snail's pace into a hooded cape for the book is on the needles. This is one of those projects where, despite the fact that I knit like the wind, you get to the end of the row and feel like there should be a prize for having just finished the row. Right now it's at 334 stitches in a worsted weight Cascade 220 superwash. And I'm knitting it in the summer, in Georgia, in temperatures that suggest we live in the Sahara Desert instead of in the Appalachian foothills. So, yeah, every row deserves a celebration. I put this down for quite a bit because also I can't find a rhythm. I've tried to make a deal with myself to do three rows a day because this really does need to get done and there will be so much embellishment work that the body is going to seam like a breeze. It's day 4 of that deal and I'm mostly on track so far.
Well, that's what I have going on as this week begins. Hope your week is a great one!
