Snow in Saratoga! (California, that is)

I finished Rocky's sweater (see previous post) a day before the snow arrived. He really needed it!

Here are a couple of views at our house. These pictures were taken at around 6:30 am, before the sun was up sufficiently to start melting the snow. The snow was less than an inch thick at the deepest point.

You can see Justin having a grand time before going back to bed for another 4 hours (he is a teenager, after all).

Flurry of FOs in February, Spring Startitis, and Stitches West

First, the good news: I actually completed seven items this past month, despite a slow start. As I stood in line for Stitches West's market on Friday, I completed a shawl collared vest which I wore the rest of the day. This is one of the hot knits these days at Green Planet Yarns; mine is in Lamb's Pride Bulky instead of the called for Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande. Here it is in progress, and after completion:

I also finished Rockin Sock Club January '11 socks, Social Network by Lucy Neatby. I showed them to the ladies in their SW booth, and they said it was the first completed pair they had seen. I really enjoyed making them, and they are very comfortable to wear.

I made lots of purchases at Stitches, as usual, but have already finished a Kerr Cowl (in Berrocco Borealis) and Ali's Cap (in Marion Foales 2 ply) from my new stash. The latter was sold as a kit to benefit a wildlife fund; you can see me posed with Ali MacGraw (the inspiration for the design) below.

Another FO for February was the Trekking Knitalong project, a pair of fingerless mitts. The "cable" is made with twisted stitches so it went very fast. I have not yet cast on the March project, but expect to within the week.

Our dog, Rocky, is quite elderly (we got him as an adult rescue dog a little over 16 years ago) and has lost some of his muscle mass in the past six months. The vet says he needs to wear a sweater, and loves this one I knit him a week and a half ago. He used to bite and pull off any sweater we'd try to put on him, but now he seems to look forward to having it on. This is the standard sweater from Dogs in Knits.

With the leftover yarn, I knit a hat for charity, just in time to meet my resolution deadline.

I've had a bit of startitis lately, and don't know how much is due to the yarn fumes from Stitches' market (and my new purchases) and how much is due to anticipation of the onset of spring. All of the February FOs were started and finished during the month, so I had no impact on the number of items on my WIP/UFO list. This month, I've started a sock monkey, something I've always wanted for some strange reason (maybe because Mom said no way would she let me cut up a perfectly good pair of socks to make a toy). The ears, muzzle, arms, and tail are complete, and I'm stuffing the legs/body unit as I go.

This weekend, I started a pair of socks (another Stitches West purchase). They are Lucy Neatby's Almost Saintly Socks (because they are so "holey") in Shelridge Farm's sock yarn (the variegated is a one-off). I stuffed the cuff with tissue to make the design clearer.

A later post will include a few more pictures and notes from Stitches.

Forgotten Resolutions, WIPing along, and an fo (not an FO)

I have a few more resolutions for 2011 that I forgot to list in the last post.

• Knit at least one item for charity each month. In January, I made the five Special Olympics scarves plus I delivered some baby hats to Green Planet Yarn to send off to Save the Children's Caps for Good program (the hats were knit in December).

• Complete at least one pair of socks per month. Since I'm not as organized as the Yarn Harlot, I have not pre-kitted any projects, but I would like to decrease my sock yarn stash a bit. Again, I did well in January with three pair finished.

In both of the above cases, my version of the resolution does not allow for knitting ahead, so every month is a fresh start.

I was happily knitting away on a WIP from late last year, the Sag Harbor Cardigan (a

Tahki design) in Berrocco's Blackstone Tweed, when I got the urge to finish off the Barn Raiser Quilt Square (see last post) in Tofutsie. It then occurred to me that I could probably make an entire BRQ square from the emergency sock yarn samples Blue Moon sent with the 2010 Rockin' Sock Club shipments. I was just finishing with the last bit of that yarn (short by a few rounds) when the January 2011 shipment arrived. The first kit of the year is colorwork socks, so there were TWO mini-skeins -- just enough for the rest of the square! This is my "fo" (as opposed to FO).

As for the lovely Sag Harbor, it has been tossed aside

(temporarily, I hope, since I could really use it). The colorwork socks were just too hard to resist (and I DO have that sock knitting resolution), so I started those a few nights ago. There were two patterns provided; I chose "Social Network" by Lucy Neatby. I think it works particularly well with the colors (unfortunately, they don't reproduce well in photos), and it uses slightly less yarn than the other option (given my size 10 feet, that was definitely a concern). I've finished the first cuff, which you can see here.

The Trekking February Knitalong has begun, so I have now completed step #1 for the first of

the fingerless gloves. I learned the German Twist cast on (I've done this once before, but I think incorrectly, as I was trying to follow written instructions translated from German), and really like the way it looks and feels. The cables are attractive and quick to memorize. Here's my cuff.

Knitting Resolutions/Best Intentions and a Few FOs

Last year I vowed to knit more than I bought. It was clear by the time I finished with Stitches West Market, I was not going to achieve that. Since last February, I have catalogued my stash (at least the yarns and kits) with the idea that self-knowledge is power. I ended the year knitting up only slightly fewer projects than I bought, but I added more yarn to the stash than I knitted up. I also reduced the number of WIPs and UFOs, mostly by finishing them off.

This year, I have the following knitting goals:

• Complete more knitted projects than I purchase. Based on last year, I don't think this should be a stretch goal.
• Knit up (into finished projects) more balls/skeins of yarn than I purchase.
• Do not buy or start any sweaters in linen stitch. Completing one already in progress would be more than okay.
• Decrease the number of WIPs/UFOs by at least 10%. This could be major league difficult.
• Continue to catalog my stash, WIPs, and finished projects. Photograph as many as is feasible.

Less than a month into the year, I'm happy to report that I'm not doing too badly. First off, the FOs (all since January 1st):

Trekking Knitalong January socks (mine are in Trekking Pro Natura)

Two more pair of socks (those on left are for Mother's Day gift for Mom and those on the right are my own toe-up design in Kroy FX)

Five scarves for Winter Special Olympics (I still have a small amount of Red Heart Super Saver if anyone wants it)

A Fair Isle tam knit in Fresco (Jared Flood design) which will be a present

And one more Barn Raiser Quilt square (this one is in leftover Tofutsie)

In comparison to my goals, I've completed 3 more knitted projects than I've bought (two of the pair of socks were from yarn purchased this year, and I don't count the BRQ square as a completed knitted project), I've decreased my WIPs by 2, and I've only bought 1 more ball of yarn than I've knit (I just couldn't resist buying the pattern and yarn to make sock monkeys -- I've wanted one since I was a little kid).

Not bad, but the January Rockin' Socks shipment is likely to arrive tomorrow and Stitches is coming up VERY soon -- so, back to knitting!

Christmas wrap-up

I'm finally emerging from my post-holiday recovery.

Christmas went very well. We hosted dinner with 33 in attendance. The age range was 2 to somewhere in the mid to upper 80's. There was much craziness, including a White Elephant gift exchange in which Justin received a pair of collectible bears. That in itself would have been a poor choice for a teenage boy, but they also played music (Time of My Life from Dirty Dancing) and moved their mouths in time to the song.

Justin did not complain much when I regifted the bears to Goodwill.

Christmas knitting was kept to a manageable level this year. Amanda liked her alpaca cowl/scarf (the design was from Chicago's Loop, extra appropriate since she's attending school in Chicago). Mom was very happy with her hat and tried to take Dad's two hats plus mitts. Dad was happy that the mitts and at least one hat are way too big for Mom.

My mother-in-law was wearing a scarf I knit for my father-in-law a few years ago. I wonder how long before I start swiping Joe's clothes?

Kerry liked the cowl and capelet I knit her in her favorite colors (a mix of purple, burgundy, and brown -- bruise colors per Joe).

I was glad that several times a year I knit things "on spec". Sometimes I really want to try out a pattern or yarn, but don't need the item I knit and don't have a specific recipient in mind. The morning of the 26th, my parents and in-laws came over for breakfast. My brother, his girlfriend, and her mother were last minute additions. Since we had planned to give the older generation gifts that morning, I needed something quick for Robin, Karen, and Lurene. Robin got wine from our cabinet, Karen got a cowl, and Lurene got a keyhole scarf. All seem pleased.

Procrastination pays off!

Occasionally, it pays to let a project sit a bit.

About one ball into reworking the back of the Iro jacket I was able to detect the repeat. Since Iro comes in skeins, not balls, I had not wound all the balls in the same direction. It is an even split between pulling from the inside and unwinding from the outside if I want the repeat to go in the same direction (I do).

Then I looked at the completed sleeve. Knit in the opposite way from the sweater body, of course.

That was the last thing I needed to motivate me to rip and reknit (it is 2 stitches too narrow).

Turns out my UFO was, in effect, an unstarted object (the gauge was right, at least).

Scatter brained

Fall weather is finally here. After a month of fairly productive knitting, I am suddenly antsy again. Somehow a major weather change makes me want to drop everything and try something new.

Sometimes more than one new thing.

I'm trying to deal with this in a way that will actually result in more than half a dozen new UFOs.

Approach #1: I've pulled out my Barn Raiser Quilt squares (I've finished 34 so far) and my version of Shelly Kang's Sock Yarn Blanket and put them neatly in a linen box from Storables along with needles and leftover sock yarn. In the past few days, I've added 7 squares to my SKSYB and gotten halfway through BRQ square #35.

Approach #2: Instead of starting something brand new, I pulled out a jacket I started last winter in Noro Iro. I had stopped this one after one sleeve and half a back because I realized that to make it as long as I wanted, I would need more yarn. By the time I got that yarn, I was, of course, on to another project. It is a good thing I let this one languish because a quick measurement led me to rip out the back and start with a different size.

The good thing about Iro is it is big yarn, so progress is visible in a short time.

Approach #3: I am also rotating through what had been my current projects: a tweedy cardigan (Tahki design, Berrocco yarn), socks (simple slipstitch pattern, Lorna's Laces yarn), and two scarves from kits (one laceweight from Morehouse Farms, one cashmere from Jade Sapphire). This gives me a variety of techniques, colors, gauge, and texture to choose from.

Approach #4: When I needed an emergency birthday gift for Joe (he had gone and bought himself presents AGAIN less than a week before his day), I got yarn for a ribbed hat for him. I couldn't resist also getting yarn for Xmas knitting. From that purchase, I've made Dad a pair of fingerless mitts and matching hat (both from Knits Men Want), a Soft Structure Cowl for Kerry, an Inside-Outside Cowl (my cowl version of the Inside-Outside Scarf from Knit One Below), plus another hat for Dad from stash. From that purchase, I still have yarn for a hat for Mom (and a vest for myself, but that doesn't count), plus I have stash earmarked for a scarf for my mother-in-law and a hat for my father-in-law. I may shift to one of these when I feel the need for quick gratification.

Approach #5: Charity knitting from stash is my other current option for a brief change and quick sense of accomplishment. I've knit four preemie hats for Save the Children in the past month, all from stash. I've also finished several adult sized hats. The nice thing here is it decreases the amount of storage space devoted to leftovers, and does it faster than approach #1.

I may acquiesce to my impulses anyway. After all, the holidays are coming up and I have this wonderful dressy Rowan sweater that I have all kitted up and ready to go...