WIP Wednesday

On April 4, 2018April 4, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, WIP7 Comments

It’s Wednesday and I have progress! There’s not much of a story here, but that’s kind of a story itself. It’s my favorite kind of knitting, miles of nothing but knit. Perfectly relaxing, stress reducing, stash busting, striped, garter stitch.

AAAAAaaaaaaahhhh. yes. I’m loving the dueling Dotted Rays.

They’re keeping pace with each other pretty well. AND, I’m keeping up with the end weaving. I can’t wait to see how they turn out. At this point, each shawl has grown so large that it’s mostly relegated to a large crumpled pile until it comes off the needles, revealing it’s true beauty. At least that’s the way I’m hoping it goes…

I’ve made a couple questionable decisions in the pink/red/orange/purple stripes. It’s completely possible to balance it out down the line though, so I’m putting faith in the process. I’m not expecting to be unhappy at the end. I’m sure it’ll work out. It always does, after all.

The Week in Review

On March 30, 2018March 30, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Crochet, Sweater, WIP3 Comments

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has had a good week. I did. The gift of time is my favorite thing about unemployment. I never take that for granted. What seemed like a lazy week, is much different when I look back at my camera roll.

The weather has been great. I took lots of walks.

I went on an excursion to Scrap, the local center for creative re-use.

I picked up an old wooden picture frame to make a little pin loom.

Despite my complete lack of skills with a hammer, it’s safe to say…I nailed it! :) At least for a little while, then the frame broke under all that tension. Whoops.

I got enough out of it to satisfy my urge to weave. Mostly, it confirmed that I like knitting better. I’m not giving up my needles for a loom (or a hammer) anytime soon.

Baby’s first sweater and my pair of Dotted Rays have all made progress.

My favorite progress of the week, though, is my log cabin crochet blanket. Those colors!!

And now, I get to have a weekend. It doesn’t get better than that! I’m so lucky! Happy Friday, Indeed!

The Making of a Monster

On March 22, 2018March 22, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Toy, WIP6 Comments

The time has come. I’m no longer talking about knitting monsters. I’m actually knitting them! Yay! This is Kevin. He’s going to be a pocket monster. Eventually, there will be sweaters and blankets with pockets for Kevin to live in. He’s going to get a whole bunch of friends too. They’ll get pockets too! Pockets & Friends and Friends & Pockets! I love the whole thing.

I am a little stuck right now though. Monster faces are hard. I’ve eliminated buttons, safety eyes and other sewn on items (like felt or bobbles). This leaves me with embroidery options. And they have not gone well. The eyes are proving difficult.

I tried duplicate stitch. It was dreadful. I tried some plain X’s. That’s not the thing either. Kevin isn’t dead.

Satin Stitch is next on my list of things to try. I’m not optimistic. My embroidery skills are nil. At this point, everything goes in and out through Kevin’s crotch. It’s a real challenge to manipulate embroider in a tight space with barely any access. So I’m taking a little break before I attempt the eyes again.

I’m pleased with my crooked little mouth, though. I can do intentionally askew. That’s completely my speed! He’s gonna be so cute when (if?) I get the eyes right!

Progress, on Wednesday

On March 14, 2018March 14, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Sweater, WIP5 Comments

Somehow, despite myriad variables, I’ve got three projects converging at the finish line. Approaching the end of a project always gives it a bit of a boost, a sort of second wind. Now, multiply that feeling of accomplishment by 3, and call it Wednesday! Woooo!

I’m putting the border on a summery stroller blanket for the Nephew. I’m putting the buttons on my Lopi + Noro cardigan (the brown ones).

And I’m resisting the urge to put my next sweater on the needles. I decided on the color palate. Casting on is the logical next step. Of course, finishing the sweater that’s 99.7% complete is also quite logical. It’s hard to know exactly what to do!?!

I’ll keep you posted, as always! Happy Pi Day!!

WIP Wednesday: Sweater Progress

On March 7, 2018March 7, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Sweater, WIP10 Comments

As I organized the WIPs this morning, I realized my sweater body had reached completion! Wooohooo!

I measured it against my current favorite sweater…the length is good. I even went a few extra rows before I did the bind off.

It’s gonna be soooooo good and it’s super close now! The sleeves should be a snap…stockinette in the round? Yeah…I got that.

I picked out my next sweater today, too…The Saltwater Bay Cardigan. It’s the latest Knitty Surprise, knit in Lopi! No problems finding that in my stash…

About that Stash…

On February 28, 2018March 1, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Crochet, WIP, Yarn11 Comments

Sometime yesterday afternoon, I had a moment of panic. I realized some of my new Stitches yarn was missing from this picture.

PANIC! What happened to it? I hope I didn’t lose it at the hotel? Could I recall seeing it at home? Was it in any of the pictures I’d taken? Did it fall out of the bag in the car? OMG WHERE IS IT?

Thankfully my panic only lasted about 30 seconds. One of the benefits of a tiny studio apartment…nothing is ever far away! I found them exactly where I had left them…with all the other speckles. D’oh!

It’s amazing how much emotion can be packed into such a short span. These beauties will be central to my speckle fade cardigan plan. The thought of losing them, while fleeting, was sad. They’re just so gorgeous!!

The two on the left are Savannah from Baah, a lovely soft MCN. The one on the right is Tosh Merino Light in the Foliage colorway.

I frequently tell people to stop buying Tosh. There are so many other great yarns to try, no need for pigeon holing. That color though!! I could not resist. I saw it from a distance and once I had it in my hand, there was no putting it down. I love the bright fun speckles but the dark green is what sold it! It’s a completely grounded and wearable color but it also satisfies my need for rainbow clown barf. It is my absolute definition of irresistible. I would have been very sad to lose it. And so, this is why Tosh remains a favorite. Maybe one day I’ll learn, resistance is futile.

Similarly, in the maybe-one-day-I’ll-learn category…

I started a new project yesterday. The more I say I’m not going to do something…the more likely I am to do it. (see: buy yarn as another example.) I definitely thought I was good on WIPs when I left you yesterday. I didn’t expect this to happen either! I’m pleading the Crochet Loophole on this one. It’s totally reasonable to allow myself one little crochet project, along with all the knit WIPs.

And by little, I mean 3200 yards of KnitPicks fingering weight Chroma! Wooo!

A very generous knitter asked me at Stitches, do you like Chroma? Why, yes. Yes, I do. She said she was destashing and she’ll bring it for me. Well, Monday knit night rolled around and she was serious about this destash. So, here I am with a giant bag of unexpected yarn! It’s amazing! And Rainbow! And Stripey!

Just about 11 pm last night, my resolve broke and here I am with my newest WIP…a crochet blanket, log cabin style! I’m going with a big hook and a loose stitch in the hopes that this will be a big, squishy rainbow hug! It’s gonna be so good!

WIP Wednesday : Hat Halfpipe

On February 14, 2018February 14, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Hat, WIP8 Comments

Progress! Woo! I’ve moved the third hat into the completely finished pile, after a bit of duplicate stitch this morning.

Hat #4 is knit, but it needs a little something more.

It’s a bit sweet at the moment but I think I’ve backed off the Lisa Frank cliff. Instead of hearts and rainbows, I’m thinking Kraken! I need to stash dive first.

In the meantime, I’m finishing up this no-brainer. Bulky tweed done sequence knitting style. Might even go pom-pom on this one!

As for the Olympics, Shaun White did his thing. It was amazing and somehow lived up to the incredibly immense amount of hype?!?!!

And his sister was on hand for congratulations…

…in a new hat! She’s bought into the store bought propaganda machine. Oh well. I understand. Times change, fashions change. I was really hoping she’d pull out the old one though.

And now, I’ll leave you with a little Where’s Waldo challenge…

I can find an orange cowboy hat, a person with sunglasses instead of a face, Rodin’s Thinker, 12 Japanese flags, 1 girl in a fox hat, an ipad, 2 guys looking through binoculars and 3 friends all taking the same picture!

Can you find them all?