UFOctober: The 4 Ps

We have People!

Michaele of The Knitty Professor beat the rush and worked on projects the last week of September.

Knitterary has 6 UFOs to conquer, plus her Starmore KAL and a Clapotis! Yowser. She says she'll be ecstatic if she gets 4 of her UFOs off her back.

Knitty Kitty has 5 UFOs and 2 exceptions.

Turtle set some UFO-busting goals for October, so we'll count her in! She listed 7 UFOs and 11 "waiting to start" and already has knocked off 2 of the UFOs!

Elspeth has a lot of blogs said she would join in, can't wait to see what she'll be working on!

Remember, you have through October 6 to sign up here (leave a comment with a link to your blog).

We have Prizes!

Skein of Green (skein of grein? skeen of green?)

This nummy worsted weight is Shepherd's Wool from Stonehedge Fiber Mill in East Jordan, Michigan. It is the softest 100% wool yarn I have ever felt, almost as soft as baby alpaca. The color is a beautiful heathered deep sea green (lighter than it's showing up here) called "Seebreeze."

Mystery Sock Yarn
It may be hand-dyed or it may be some of my ever-growing Knit Picks stash. We'll see. (I guess you could say that deciding this prize is another UFO.)

Prizes will be awarded by random draw. If this is fun, if we do it again next year, maybe we'll have specific categories - most finished projects, most daunting, etc.

We have Projects!

Holy Unidentified Objects, Batman! Every time I dig through my stash, I find more UFOs! Here are two more alien projects I found:

Nettie 1 - forgot all about this early attempt at a net market bag; see below.
Sky Socks - finished back in, what, June? Just need to be mailed, for pete's sake!

We have Progress!

This was an easy one. I stumbled across the nascent Nettie while reviewing the Recycled Navy Cardi. FROGGGED!! Photos to come!

FOto Friday - September 28, 2007

Wow, a week sure goes by fast! What? It's been two three weeks since I did a FOto Friday? Yipe. Sorry!

This is, at long last, the Vine Lace Scarf I hope to teach at the LYS next month:

Ok, that's a terrible picture. I'll get a better one, uh... someday. The scarf is done in one skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Very simple pattern: 3 repeats of Vine Lace pattern with a 3-stitch stockinette border on each side. The border rolls a bit by design.

Here's a little sewing project that's been burning in my brain for way too long:


Produce bags! Get the whole story over at Make A Bag.

One ball Noro Kureyon + one basic knit-flat mitten pattern - tops of fingers and thumb + top ribbing =
Fingerless Noro Mitts. These knit up super-fast! Probably four hours, total. I used the mitten pattern from Instant Expert Knitting. (Support your local book store, or at least Borders, which is Michigan-owned!)

Oh those aren't unwoven-in ends. Those are a design feature. Yep.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

I'm doing a hand-dyed sock yarn swap through Swap-Bot. My swap partner (I dye for her; someone else dyes for me, presumably) said at one point she likes the colors of autumn leaves, so that is what I was going for.

Yes, really. (Stop laughing.)

Lesson learned: never underestimate the power of orange Kool-Aid in homemade dyeing projects. Good grief!

Oh, yeah. The mailing deadline is tomorrow. Do you think Robyn would prefer ugly yarn or late yarn? sigh

Dis Comix Is Full of Fun

This is "Laugh Out Loud Cats #278" drawn by Apelad at Hobotopia. Apelad claims to be the sole living decendent of Aloysius "Gorilla" Koford, who drew the strip for 17 newspapers during 1912-1913.

You may see note a *slight* resemblence between the captions of these comics and the cats of "I Can Has Cheezburger?" Coincidence? You decide.

UFOctober: Close Encounters of the Knitted Kind

Seen any UFOs lately? You know, those UnFinished Objects that have been hovering around your stash for far too long? Maybe you've even seen an alien or two - projects from so long ago you don't recognize them at first.

Let's get together and see if we can knock out a few of those UFOs during UFOctober! Write up a blog post of your list of UFOs to work on. Then leave me a note in the comments for THIS POST by October 6. I'll post a list of all the UFOctobers so we can visit each other and cheer each other on.

Rules? While I am restricting my self to only UFOs during October until they are done (with two exceptions, see below), just commit to at least working on some of those long-abandoned UFOs, and post about your progress once in a while.

Incentives, you say? PRIZES? Well, sure, why not. I'll think of something (and maybe some of you will contribute?)

Oh, and if any of the super-clever wish to make a button, well, the more buttons, the merrier, I say!

So here's my Close Encounters of the Knitted Kind:

Chevron Lace Socks - When I did the heel and gusset on the second sock, I followed the pattern as written. Apparently, I did not do this when I made the first sock, and I much prefer the first heel. The Plan: rip & reknit. (Not this one, this is the good one!)


Lily Pad Socks for Boy1 - Started the cuff for sock #2, then stalled. The Plan: finish already.


Purple sweater for Girl - this is so old, I didn't even put it on my WIP list until now. It's going to be tough figuring out where I left off, but it's a simple pattern, and I know a lot more now, so it might not be that bad. I think the front and back are done. The pattern calls for a hood, but I think I'll just make a simple collar. I just hope it still fits her. The Plan: find the pattern, figure out where the heck I am, and knit.

Recycled Navy Sweater - another one for Girl. Simple V-neck cardi based on Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. However, I love the look of wrap-front, ballet-style sweaters, and all the hassle of the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono did not diminish my love of the wrap-front sweater one bit. The Plan: Unclear. Continue as planned, or rip and renew as wrap-front vest?

Blue Cascade Socks for Boy1 - The Cascade Fixation is driving me nuts. The Plan: Frog when I get up the nerve.


Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono 1 & 2 - The yarn ran on #1. The Plan: gently wash and hope it can be salvaged, perhaps with some clever embroidery. If not salvageable, frog.

The sleeve seams are giving me fits on #2. The Plan: Figure it out or frog it.

The Exceptions:

The Jimmy Neutron sweater for Boy1 - I have blahhhhhhhged about this ad nauseum, the design is in my head, it really needs to get done, so we will call it "started," therefore, unfinished and qualifying for UFOctober! (Rationalization is a beautiful thing.)

I am allowed ONE ball-band dishcloth if the mood strikes. They knit up fast, and once I start thinking about color combos, I can't stop until I knit it. So I get to do one (and I hope that's enough).

When Sarcasm is Not Enough...

I'm sorry, but I had to laugh. It seems a few of you took my Saturday post literally. What I meant was, it was a really rough day. The kind of day that will drive you to drink, if not alcohol, then chocolate syrup straight from the bottle.

Things are better now, but - hoo boy - has something got to give.

On an unrelated knitting note: I'm thinking of designating October as "UFOctober" or "UnFinished October" and make a goal to finish, work on, or even frog all my UFOs. Who's with me?

A Really, Really Good Day

You ever have the kind of day where every little thing makes you want to knock back shots of chocolate syrup straight from the bottle?

Good times.

Get Your Knit On For A Good Cause - Red Scarf Project

The Orphan Foundation of America sends encouragement and care packages to foster kids heading off to college. In 2005, they started adding red scarves to the care packages. Well, you KNOW this caught on in the yarn-loving community. The first year, knitters and crocheters donated 3500 scarves. The next year, 15,000 scarves.

This year, the Red Scarf Project is running a little earlier. Now, in fact. So, if you'd like to donate to this cause, here are some guidlines:

1. Scarves should be about 60 inches (152 cm) long by 5-8 inches (13-20 cm) wide.

2. Scarves should be unisex - no lace. Boys are college-bound foster kids too! (The NEW fall Knitty has a great manly scarf pattern.)

3. Yarn - No laceweight, super-chunky, or mohair yarns.

4. Color - any shade of red, although other gender-neutral colors are welcome.

5. Deadline - get your scarves in by October 15.

6. Cash donations are always welcome, as OFA covers all packing and shipping costs for the care packages.

7. Get this - they actually had to limit how many scarves you can send in! Limit is 5 scarves per individual or organization.

For more information, where to send the scarves, and how to donate, see the Red Scarf Project site. They have lots of pattern links and more ways you can help OFA.

Putting the "Blah" In Blog

Totally leapfrogging off of Wendy's post from Monday, I am trying to get back into the swing of posting regularly. Turns out that, with 2 out of 3 kids in school, I somehow have less time to post. Go figure.

So, as stated, there has been some Ball Band Madness:

Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream in Hot Purple and Soft Teal

This purple and green number is a gift for my sis-in-law, who has zero appreciation for knitting. We shall convert her yet! (My 11-year-old niece knits, so I am hoping that having an in-house knitter will help sway SIL.)

Oh, I made one change from the original pattern for this one - I cast on 47 stitches instead of 45. So the first "block" you knit 5, slip 1, k5, s1, etc, ending k5. The next "block" you k2, s1, *k5, s1* rpt to end, k2. I like how this works because when I follow the pattern, that second "block" doesn't seem as well-defined to me. Your mileage may vary.

Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream in Rosewood and Soft Teal

The pink/green/brown is a gift for mom-in-law, who delicately requested I knit her one. Actually, she saw me knitting the brown & aqua striped one and said, "So when are you going to make me one?" Um, nicely put. (Followed pattern as written.)

NETTIE!! Yes, Nettie II is done! She has been tested and found fit for use, making the rounds at the local farmer's market last Saturday. I was on a yes-tomatoes-no-plastic-bag-please quest and fully succeeded. Nettie even received a compliment from the local raw honey vendor. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of Nettie chock full o' tomatoey goodness, but regular readers of this blog know they should be happy with the crappy photo I did take. (heh, sorry guys) And who knows, maybe I'll actually get around to posting the long-promised pattern. (Or have I posted it already? Click to find out!)

There may be one more ball-band washrag in my near future, a little experimental number with some self-striping yarn. I'll let ya know. The yarn may have already been purchased. But I'm not tellin'.

Neglect

It's not just the blog that's being neglected.

The Lily Pad socks are all but abandoned. (Alas, young love that burns bright for so short a time!)

The Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono II has betrayed me with wonky arm seams.

The class schedule for the LYS was due two weeks ago.

The lace winter scarf pattern, also for the LYS, is still in my head, not paper or even needles.

Girl's recycled wool sweater has officially stagnated. Now I want to frog the whole thing and make it into a crossover vest for her.

Boy1's Jimmy Neutron sweater is still in the skein. I'm not even sure if he's still interested.

My kids, however, are washed and fed. (Mostly.)

Why all this neglect?

DISHCLOTH MADNESS! Yes, once again I am spending all my knitting time on Ball-Band Washrags. These are gifts tho. Details to follow (uh, yeah right).

Hello, blog!

Dear Blog:

I miss you. I know you feel neglected, and I am sorry. I have been Doing Some Things while I have been away. The School Prep. The Job. The Other Job. The School. PICNIC!

The possibly-upcoming family crisis. (We'll see about that.)

Oh, and some knitting. Not much. Just a do-over on the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono. Still having problems with it, but I think it will work out. The baby it is for was born last Tuesday, so gotta get crackin'.

But I know none of these things are your problem, blog. I appreciate your patience and being there when I am ready to return.