Showing posts with label Boxy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boxy. Show all posts

Monday, May 2, 2016

The BIG 4 Retreat.....join us!

Hi everyone!  I hope you had a fabulous week!  I had a crazy week.....and lots of knitting news for you!

Well, it is almost time for camp....and Darlene and I are not going this year!


Yup.....You read right....No Camp for me or Darlene this year!  Instead, Darlene and I are doing our own "Campish type" thing.....we are calling it The Big 4 Retreat!  We are going to call it a retreat instead of camp.....doesn't everyone love a retreat more than they love camp?  Come join us for our retreat!!!! (Link back to Rav for chatting.)



You know how you cast something on and you work on it and work on it and then something else equally exciting comes along and you just have to cast on and work on that new item?  I know there are some monogamous knitters out there scratching their head because this never happens to you....this is probably not for you.

What happens with the first thing you were knitting on?  Well, for me, some of those items get neglected.....for too long......so, we are each picking 4 WIPS that we really want to get done but somehow got put on the back burner and never made it back in the front of the line!!

Here is how our virtual retreat will go down.......We have 4 months to finish these 4 WIPS....we started yesterday (May 1) and we end when camp would normally end, August 31st.  We can work on anything else we have at the same time, but we CANNOT cast on anything new.....at all....till September (only exception are socks since I am doing the DVD and Bags By Awesomegrannie sock of the month, and that is a big goal of mine this year).

I figure if we can always get 3 awesome new things knit for Camp in past years....we can start a month early, add one more project and FINISH 4 awesome WIPS that we really do love but maybe have not given love lately!

Here is the view at The Big 4 Retreat!



Here are my BIG 4 From Left To Right:

Smooth Move, Spire, Agleam, Pure Joy...so the first 2 are from 2014...the second 2 are more recent....but I should still have 4 awesome finished things when done!



So, Smooth move is about 43% done, Spire is about 23% done with Spire, Agleam "was" about 17% done and Pure Joy is about 4% done.

I worked on Agleam this past weekend and now it is about 37% done....not bad to do 20% just in the weekend.

Here is my progress:


I worked on Pure Joy over the week...so it is a touch bigger than the last time I posted...but here it at only 4%


I did a couple of rows on Spire just to switch the needles it was on....so here is a picture of it semi stretched out.....


I have not done anything with Smooth Move yet...so I really do not have a close up of it.

So, what do you guys think about mine and Darlene's "The Big 4 Retreat"?  Feel free to join us....I even started a thread in the Bags By Awesomegrannie forum in case you want to post pictures and chat with us.

I look forward to giving you updates on The Big 4 Retreat in the months to come :)

Also, to get ready for "The Big 4 Retreat", I did a bunch of Frogging.....I frogged 6 projects:

Fruit Gum Stripes - I will make this pattern some day with self striping yarn



Welty - Maybe some time in the future, but I was not 'feeling it'


Cercis - I just realize that 1 skein shawls are not large enough for me, and this yarn is too good to go to waste.



Boxy - this yarn will be better for a Girasole...the stitch definition this yarn shows is wasted on a plain stockinette pattern.


Thousand Tulips


KOM Mystery KAL



So, aren't you proud of me for frogging 7 projects in less than 2 weeks (remember, I frogged The Doodler last week)?  But please do not ask how many projects I still have on the needles....I am working on lowering the number :)

I do have a couple of stash enhancements....but not yarn.....I heard on a podcast that Wolfe Farms was closing and wanted to try their lotion...so I got some lotion, a candle, soap and a cable needle....I love the lotion....Paige already snagged the bottle of Cucumber Melon and I have the Honeysuckle for myself...I am really sad that this place is closing because their products are very nice!


Then......Darlene really wanted to make a memories blanket...the mitered square kind.....so I pulled out almost all of my left over sock yarn:


I got a bag of yarn together for Darlene (there was actually more when I gave it to her...I forgot to snap an updated pic):


This is yarn from the very first pair of socks I ever knit, so it will be my first square...

I did a first square....

Then decided to do some different stitch counts and needle sizes:


We are going to do a 50 stitch count square on size US 4 (3.5 mm)....This will be a forever project so, expect it to just pop up here and there :)

I also cast on for my May socks of the month:  and I got a new medium sized bag for them....thank you SOOOOO much Darlene!




The last thing I started (I think) is a Nuvem is this gorgeous pink color.....I love it!  It is for just plain old mindless knitting (and of course I had to cast it on before The Big 4 Retreat!


Okay.....now for things I finished......I finished the test knit for Susanna IC.....the pattern is called Evenfall!


I also finished my April Socks :)



Whew.....I feel like this may be one of my longest posts....so, I am going to wrap this up.

I went to Jaime's and he cooked me a fantastic steak (I have not had steak in long time).


And I got to hang out with his dog, Brandy...she is the softest thing ever.....


On Friday, I picked up Antonio from Daycare and took him to his Grandma Debbie's house....He usually does not go to daycare on Friday's but it was picture day.  Now, remember that Antonio used to live with 3 barber's and of course still lives with his mother who is a barber, so to him, it is all about the haircut and hairstyle....he knew he looked good Friday....he told Paige, "Mom, I look good don't I....My hair looks good!"



Now, if those last 2 pics did not put a smile on your face....NOTHING will.  Have a great week!

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!!!!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Knitting on FIVE things! Yippee

Wow....what a week.  How has your week been?  Mine was good.  I have been binge watching "Orange is the New Black" on Netflix and I really like it!

Well, let me jump right into it.......with stash enhancements.  Do you remember when Darlene went on vacation last year (and I almost died without her)?  Well, if you remember that, do you also remember the awesome yarn she bought me that I talked about here?  Well, we were going to make an Ink Cardigan, but now we are making Boxy with it....we each ordered a little bit more yarn in our colors so we have enough with Boxy.  Well......this yarn is so awesome, I got some more!  Beaverslide Dry Goods has more colors now than they did a year ago in this 1 ply sport weight yarn.  I got some Barley Heather (yellowish) and Thimbleberry (pinkish) and I LOVE THEM!  The yellow is really hard for me to photograph, so the 2nd picture is from their website.





I also got another bag from Darlene.....a long time ago I bought some sheep fabric.....then, she got me a needle case for my birthday out of the same fabric....then, I bought some sock needle cases out of the same fabric......so, she made me a medium bag with that material.....I love it!  Thank you Darlene!


Well, that is all I have for stash enhancements.....I've had lots of stash enhancements the last few weeks, and I really need to curb my spending!

I knitted on a bunch of things this past week!  I started a new shrug.....my friend from HiyaHiya asked me if I would hostesses another Shrug KAL on FB for her.....and of course I said yes.  I still have not finished the last shrug, but I have not frogged it either....I am really loving this one....probably because I am using awesome yarn for it instead of just acrylic....I am using the Thimbleberry from Beaverslide that I just got....I am really, really, really enjoying knitting this shrug...the yarn feels great to knit with.  I do hope you can join us here for a chance to win some awesome prizes.  Here is my progress so far





Then, I worked on my secret project (yes, that is a lifeline).....shhhhhhhhh


I also worked on my Miss Babs Ves Project




And....Yup, there is more.....I worked on 2 pairs of socks.  My Loopy Academy socks:


And another sock KAL for the HiyaHiya group.....these are colorwork....and I think I have decided that I do not dig colorwork that much......I just knit too tight....these will never fit me...and I am NOT starting over.....also, the pattern called for a STH (Sweet Tomato Heel)....but that required far too much concentration and I was just not feeling it.....so afterthought it is.  I know on the leg it is hard to see the colorwork because there is not much contrast in the yarns....but I am getting to the orange where there will be much more contrast on the foot.....and then I think there will be a lot of contrast on the 2nd sock too.  If you want to join us...the KAL is here.



So.....that is 5 things I worked on this week!  I hope I get to work on all of them again this week!  I have another pair of socks I want to get started for another HiyaHiya KAL...but I think I need to finish a pair of socks first....LOL!

Well, that is all I have.....Have a great week!  I leave you with some awesome Longhorn pictures a friend of mine took....her name is Vicki Meldrum and I just love these pictures!  These just make me thing of SPRING!!!!!!!!!!! She gave me permission to post them.....and she said she thought of me the whole time she was shooting the pictures!  SQEEEEEEEE that makes me feel great!














Happy Happy Knitting!